Boundless
by Sparanda
Summary: This world was created with no need for gods, but one man wishes to gain enough power to become one. Armed with the sword of destiny, Naruto fights to protect this boundless new world. Naruto x Xenoblade. Focus on Naruto.
1. Beyond the Sky

"_This world is boundless."_

Those were the last words spoken by a man called Alvis. Alvis had been what amounted to the god of his world. Zanza had sought to destroy that world to become the god, only for Shulk and his friends to defeat him and create a world without gods.

The Monado was a sword of destiny. It had belonged to the Bionis, a colossal living titan from the previous world. After waging war against Mechonis, an equally massive mechanical titan, the Bionis fell into sleep and the Monado passed onto Shulk.

The Monado was an amazing weapon… no, it was something more. One who could truly control the Monado used it more as an extension of himself than a weapon. It had amazing powers, but these powers could only be utilized by a select few.

In short, the Monado chose its wielder.

* * *

A weathered old man smiled as he looked through the window of the aircraft he was travelling in. He didn't know the specifics of where they were going, but he would know when they got there. He could feel it.

The old man looked across the passenger area to his companion. Though her appearance seemed to put her in her late thirties, she was actually close to two hundred years old. A stark comparison to the elderly man she was travelling with.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked, returning the man's gaze.

"As sure as I ever have been."

"I suppose if I can trust anyone, it's you, Shulk."

The old man laughed, a rough, gravelly sound that failed to remind her of their younger days. "I'm glad you still trust me after all this time, Melia."

* * *

"I must say," said another wizened old man, "we weren't expecting visitors from the far continents. To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?"

Compared to Shulk, this man seemed young and lively despite his age. The Third Hokage was certainly no spring chicken (though he would claim he still had a fair amount of kick left in him) but he had never heard of anyone other than the First Hokage living as long as the man that sat before him.

His companion was an even stranger sight: a middle-aged woman with small wings on either side of her head who claimed to be twice the age of her friend.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had heard many stories of the inhabitants of the far continents, but visitors had been few and far between. The far continents seemed to avoid the Elemental Nations as much as possible. Something about the idea of shinobi being wielders of death of shadow didn't sit right with them.

Those who took the time to meet and learn about the people in the Elemental Nations found a different story (depending on where they went). The Fire Nation, and particularly the village of Konoha, seemed as peaceful as their own home, if much less advanced technologically.

"I come bearing a gift," Shulk answered. He turned to one of their escorts who held a large package. Sarutobi could not see what was inside even though the container seemed to be made of glass. The escort (another one with wings on his head) set the package on the floor and it somehow balanced in its side, pointing straight up. The Hokage estimated the container was about four feet long, likely too long for any conventional weapon, but his curiosity had been piqued.

Shulk stood with the help of the woman (who had been introduced as Melia) and moved towards the container. He set a shaky hand against the glass and whispered "The Monado bends to my will." Instantly a light ran up the container signaling a compartment opening.

Inside was a large red device that looked almost like a sword. The handle was about a foot long and the hilt stuck out to one side with a circular pane of glass covering it… no, Hiruzen could see many layers of glass inside the hilt. The rest of the weapon curved upward into a rather blunt design that did not seem good for cutting. All in all, it looked nice, but Sarutobi was skeptical about its worth.

"This is the Monado," Shulk explained as he returned to his seat. "In our continent, it was rumored to be the sword used by a god."

Shulk smiled at the Hokage. "I wielded the Monado in my youth."

'_A sword used by a god, but this man claims to have wielded it,'_ Sarutobi mused. _'He must be a very influential person.'_

"That sounds mighty impressive," he finally said. "However… Forgive my doubt, but how effective is this Monado?"

"The Monado opens to reveal a blade of energy known in our land as 'ether.' I believe it would be something similar to the 'chakra' that you shinobi use."

The Hokage reigned in his surprise before it could register on his face. _'A sword made of chakra? It's just like the Second's Sword of the Thunder God!'_ "That certainly removes any doubts I had, though I wonder if it would be possible to see the Monado in action…?"

Shulk shook his head slowly. "Unfortunately, I am the only one who can wield this Monado, and my age has made it impossible for me to weather the strain that it puts on my body."

Sarutobi steeped his hands, crossing his fingers just in front of his mouth. "Forgive me, but… 'this' Monado?"

Shulk smiled at this. "Ah, so you noticed that, did you?"

"We shinobi must pay attention to details such as this, lest we perish from misinformation."

Shulk laughed. "Aha, a warrior through and through, eh? Yes, there was more than one Monado, truth be told, but this is the one known as the god's sword. The others were manifested by specific individuals during times of duress."

Sarutobi had grown skeptical again after this revelation. "Perhaps it would be beneficial if you were to tell me how you came into possession of the Monado and how you used it," he suggested.

"Of course, where are my manners?" Shulk laughed again. "Let me tell you about the Monado, the sword of destiny."

Shulk described the events of his youth and the fight against Mechonis, though he described it with a smaller scale, leaving out the parts about the Bionis and Mechonis being gigantic living continents and how he rewrote the world from scratch.

"That was a very fantastic tale, Shulk-san," Sarutobi said once the story was finished. "The Monado seems to be a very interesting weapon. I suppose the only thing I have left to ask is why you brought it here."

Shulk smiled once more. "As you can tell, I am getting on in years." The winged woman giggled softly in amusement before resuming her regal appearance. "The Monado, as you have heard, is not a normal blade. It is a sword of destiny that chooses its own master. Once I am gone, there will be no one in our land who can wield it, but I sense there is one here who can."

Hiruzen was once more on edge. "And you know this because…?"

"Come now, Hokage-sama, you've just heard the story," Shulk said with another small laugh. "I saw a vision of a young man wearing a headband with the symbol of your village that wielded the Monado with the same ability that I had."

"Do you have some idea as to who this young man might be?"

"I was hoping you might," Shulk admitted. "I know what the boy could look like in the future, but I know not what he is like now." Sarutobi leaned back a bit, slightly dejected. "I can tell you, now that I think about it," Shulk continued, "that the large face on the far right of the mountain bears a surprising resemblance to the boy I saw."

The Hokage stared at Shulk for a moment longer. _'I should have guessed.'_ "The boy you are looking for is known as Uzumaki Naruto," he stated. "He is the son of the Fourth Hokage, who died seven years ago by sacrificing himself to protect the village."

"Oh, then the boy is regarded as the son of a hero then?" Shulk looked hopeful.

"If only that were the case."

* * *

"It's pretty rare that you call me here, Old Man. I usually just show up on my own!"

Sarutobi and Shulk looked to the door to see an eight year-old Naruto enter the office. The escorts had left before his arrival, so Naruto was alone with the two elders now. "Who's the new old man, Old Man?" Naruto grinned at his own joke.

"Naruto, this man is Shulk. He's come from very far away to bring you a gift."

Naruto walked up next to Shulk and seemed to study him closely.

"How are you, Naruto-san?" Shulk asked sincerely.

Naruto paid no mind, scrunching his face up to inspect the new old man. Finally, Naruto relaxed and stuck his hands behind his head. "You're super strong, aren't you?" he asked with a huge grin. "Just like old man Hokage here."

Shulk laughed. "I used to be, sure enough," he replied. "But my age has caught up to me and I no longer have the strength to fight like you think."

"Isn't that what makes you super strong, though?" Naruto asked. "You were so strong that you lived this long through all of your fights instead of kicking the bucket."

"True enough," Shulk agreed. "He's just as you said, Hokage-sama. I can see the fire in his eyes as well."

"Indeed," Sarutobi said with a smile at his young charge.

"Old Man said you had a gift for me?" Naruto asked, suddenly remembering the Hokage's comment.

"Yes, could you help me over to that container, Naruto-san?" Naruto helped Shulk stand and led him over. "This is the Monado. It is an immensely powerful sword that I used when I was younger. But my time is done now and I would like to pass it on to you."

Most people thought Naruto was just an idiot who would jump at any chance like this, but he hesitated. "Didn't old man Hokage say you came from far away? If that's the case, how do you even know about me and why would you give me something like this?" Naruto studied the Monado for a moment before turning back to Shulk. "Don't tell me… you knew my parents!"

"I'm afraid not, Naruto-san," Shulk admitted. "As I said, the Monado is a very powerful sword. It has many special powers, one of which is granting visions of the future to its wielder. I saw you with the Monado in one of those visions, so I have to fulfill that prophecy."

"I'm not sure I got all that, but okay," Naruto grumbled. Most of what Shulk had said went over his head. He was a bit of an idiot after all. "If you say so, I'll gladly take it, old man Shulk!"

"I'm glad to hear that, Naruto-san." They returned to the seat in front of the Hokage after Naruto took the Monado from the glass container. It attached easily to his back even though there was nothing there for it to connect to. "Now as I said, the Monado has many special powers. I will not tell you how to unlock them. I had to learn on my own to master the Monado, and so must you."

Naruto frowned a bit, but his face returned to a smile almost instantly. "I prefer it that way! If you just gave me all the answers, that'd be too easy."

"Well said," Shulk replied. "I won't tell you how to unlock its powers, but I will tell you something that helped me when I was younger."

"What's that?"

Shulk smiled and looked right at Naruto. "The Monado bends to your will."

* * *

_Chapter 1 End_

_This story will focus entirely on Naruto's story, as you might imagine. Despite being a crossover, there will be very few (if any) characters from Xenoblade appearing from here on out. I've got plans for a lot of the early fights but not much beyond that. It'll be a learning experience for both of us._

_And yes, this crossover idea is silly. But I love the possibility and I wanted to write it so here we are. Hopefully I don't get stuck like I did with my other fanfics._


	2. Monado Unbound

Life had carried on rather normally for Naruto after receiving the gift from the strange old man that had shown up in the Hokage's office one day. 'Old man Shulk' had never returned to the village as far as he knew. He figured either it was too difficult to get back to Konoha from where he was or he had…

More pressing on Naruto's mind was the fact that he hadn't been able to 'unlock' the Monado's power despite the final hint Shulk had given him. At first he had taken it everywhere with him. He wore it proudly on his back as he walked through the streets, ignoring the leers of the other villagers. He had even brought it to the academy after he had first received it. Unfortunately the teachers there thought he had stolen it so he started leaving it home instead.

This year he had been placed in the class led by Iruka, basically the only sensei at the academy that didn't treat him like dirt. He was strict, but even Naruto could tell he meant well.

Iruka hadn't cared about Naruto bringing the Monado into class, but it had caused quite an uproar among some of the students (and the parents of those students) so he had been told to leave it at home.

It was well enough for Naruto. The stupid thing didn't work anyway. He'd had it for four years now, and never once did he notice anything similar to the 'activation' Shulk had mentioned.

'_Bends to my will… yeah sure. One of these days I'll bend it over a rock.'_

So Naruto ignored the Monado for the most part. Every once in a while, during the rare times he wasn't pulling pranks around the village or eating ramen, he would sit on his bed with the Monado in his lap and… meditate. He laughed every so often imagining the look on Iruka-sensei's face if he could have seen the hyperactive ninja-in-training sitting still for longer than a minute, let alone meditating.

Naruto knew he was an idiot. He knew he had a long road ahead of him if he truly wanted to be the Hokage. "There are no shortcuts," he had told himself every time he received a failing grade on a test. He knew the material that the academy taught was important in most cases, but he just cared more about physical strength than learning.

Naruto felt calm when he was meditating. While he couldn't sense anything from the Monado, it was during these times that he truly believed it was something more than just a hunk of metal to be lugged around. …Until the meditating ended and he still hadn't activated it and got angry. What the village didn't know was that most of his prank sprees stemmed from Naruto need to let off some steam after another failed meditation session.

But through all of this, Naruto held onto the Monado. He felt at times that he would be better off throwing it away, but something held him back. He didn't know what it was, but he knew throwing the Monado away would cause more problems than holding onto it.

Four years in the academy had gone to waste. Naruto was usually pretty good about putting on a strong face at times like this, but he had actually tried really hard to pass this time. If only it weren't for the damn bunshin no jutsu that the examiners loved to put on the final…

He knew he had messed up. He was an idiot and his ego could rival the best of them at times, but even he knew he was at fault for failing a test. He just wasn't good enough.

It made all the time he had spent training and all the meditating seem entirely pointless. He wanted to be angry. He wanted to blame the teachers; he wanted to blame the Hokage; he wanted to blame old man Shulk for not telling him the secret to the Monado…

In the end he could only blame himself, so he sulked on his way home from the academy after failing the graduation test. He had been planning to head home, but he ended up wandering through the village instead. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't hear someone approach from behind.

"Naruto!"

He turned to find Mizuki, the assistant teacher for his class, standing there with a sad smile. Mizuki had sat in on all the examinations; he had even tried to stand up for Naruto when his clones had turned out less than usable.

Mizuki pulled him over to chat about the exam. He didn't really want to, but he also had nothing better to do and Mizuki-sensei didn't seem that bad.

"Iruka-sensei is a very strict person, Naruto," Mizuki explained. "His parents were killed when he was very young and he had to take care of himself."

"Well the same thing happened to me, right?" Naruto grumbled. "Why does he pick on me like that?"

Mizuki gave that sad smile again. "He probably sees a bit of himself in you. He just wants to become strong on your own, without being given a free pass."

"I get that," Naruto whispered. "I said the same thing when old man Shulk gave me the Monado. I told him I didn't want to take the easy way, but now it seems like there's no way."

Mizuki stared at the depressed boy. "Naruto… do you really want to graduate?"

"I wish I had, but there's no way now, right?"

"What if I told you there was another way to do it?"

* * *

'_So I managed to sneak into the Hokage's tower, steal the scroll, and get out without anyone noticing (I had to use sexy jutsu to get past the Old Man). I came to the spot that Mizuki-sensei told me to wait for Iruka-sensei, but I wonder why he wanted me to bring the Monado as well. It's not like this thing is useful at all…'_

That had been several hours ago. Naruto had been practicing his new jutsu all night long and he was starting to get the hang of it.

"I found you, Naruto!"

"Finally! I've been waiting for hours, Iruka-sensei!"

"Huh?"

Naruto reached over to pick up the Monado as he stood up. "Mizuki-sensei told me that-"

_Suddenly Naruto's vision was filled with grey. He could see Iruka standing over him but something was different. There were two massive shuriken sticking out of his back. Over Iruka's shoulder he could see Mizuki standing on a tree branch looking smug._

Everything returned to normal as soon as it had happened. "Naruto, are you okay?" Iruka looked worried. _'Mizuki?'_

"I'm not sure, did you see someth-"

"Get back, Naruto!"

Suddenly Iruka pushed him out of the way. Dozens of kunai battered Iruka's body a second later.

"Nice job finding the idiot!" a voice jeered.

"I see," Iruka groaned. "So that's how it is…"

Naruto looked across the clearing and saw Mizuki standing on a branch, just like he had seen in the weird vision a moment ago… and there were two large shuriken strapped to his back!

"Naruto!" Mizuki called. "Give me the scroll… and the Monado!"

'_The Monado?'_ Iruka wondered. "Naruto, whatever you do don't give him either one!"

Naruto looked back and forth between the two instructors. He had clearly seen Mizuki attack Iruka, and that strange vision was fresh in his mind as well.

"Mizuki used you to steal the scroll so he could take it, Naruto!" Iruka shouted. "It's filled with forbidden ninjutsu that could put the village in danger!"

Mizuki smirked and looked down at his two targets. "There's no point in you having that scroll or that sword, Naruto. They're useless to you." Then his smirk turned decidedly evil. "Hey, why don't I let you in on a little secret?"

Iruka flinched. "No, don't!"

"You remember the story of the demon fox that attacked the village twelve years ago, right?" Despite all of his senses screaming at him to simply run away, Naruto nodded his head and listened. "Ever since that day… a special rule was created for the Leaf Village, but you were never meant to know about it."

"Never meant to…" Naruto mumbled. "What do you mean? What is this rule?!"

Mizuki just laughed in response. Naruto took a nervous gulp before asking more quietly, "What kind of rule is it?"

"Stop now, Mizuki!" Iruka cried desperately.

"The rule is that no one can tell you that you are the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox!"

Naruto froze in place and the Monado nearly slipped out of his hand.

"The Fourth Hokage sealed the fox away inside you. Your hero sacrificed his life in order to ruin yours!"

"Mizuki, stop!"

Naruto looked up at Mizuki as he pulled down one of the shuriken from his back. "You are the fox that destroyed the village! You killed Iruka's parents! He hates you just like all the other villagers!"

Mizuki let the shuriken fly and Naruto saw Iruka move from the corner of his eye. _'This is… That vision! Iruka-sensei! He… must be trying to protect me.'_ The world around Naruto slowed down as he looked down at the sword in his hands.

'_Iruka-sensei protected me in that vision… I can't let someone like Mizuki kill him,'_ Naruto told himself. _'If you really are a sword of destiny, now's the time to power up, Monado!'_

"Iruka-sensei!"

In a flash of blue light, the Monado unleashed its blade. Iruka stopped short in his mad dash to protect his student and watched speechless as Naruto cleaved the large shuriken in two. Mizuki looked even more surprised than Iruka.

Breathing heavily, Naruto pointed his newly-empowered weapon at Mizuki and yelled, "If you lay even one finger on Iruka-sensei… I'LL KILL YOU!"

Mizuki hesitated for a split second before laughing at the challenge. "Hahhahhahha! Fool! I'll kill both of you and take that blade for my own!" Mizuki countered. "What do you think someone who couldn't even pass the academy graduation could do to a full-fledged Chuunin?!"

Naruto looked down, still holding the Monado forward. "Just try it," he whispered. "Give it your best shot and I'll throw it back at you a thousand times over."

Iruka's eyes shot open as he looked at the Monado and noticed a marking had appeared in the glass circle near the hilt. "That's…" There was no mistaking the symbol.

"Monado… BUNSHIN!"

分身 is the character for 'bunshin' or 'clone.' Iruka recognized it as part of the normal bunshin no jutsu taught at the academy, but what Naruto had done was on a whole different level.

The entire clearing, up to the branches surrounding them, were full of Naruto clones. Even for normal clones, this was a fairly impressive feat, but Iruka noticed right away that the clones were moving dirt around where they stepped and making noise on the tree bark.

As if remembering that it was still there, Iruka looked back at the scroll tied to the original Naruto's back. _'The scroll contains forbidden jutsu… including the __kage bunshin no jutsu__. But that technique requires exponentially more chakra than the normal version, and Naruto made hundreds of them… no, a thousand!'_

Mizuki must have come to the same realization as he looked around frantically at the clones. "What… how did-"

"What's wrong?" called the original Naruto. "Weren't you going to kill me and take this sword?" He still held the Monado pointed directly at Mizuki.

Mizuki started turning to run away. "Oh no you don't!" The hundreds of clones converged on Mizuki, pinning him down and pummeling him into a bloody pulp.

* * *

Iruka smiled as Naruto, clones now dispelled, looked down at the battered body of Mizuki. The Monado had deactivated and was once again attached to Naruto's back.

"Hehe, I guess I went a bit too far, huh…" he mumbled.

"Naruto, come over here," Iruka said. "I have something I want to give you. Close your eyes."

Iruka could see the sun starting to rise, blanketing the clearing in a warm light as he tied his own headband where Naruto's goggles had been a moment ago.

"Okay, open your eyes now."

Slowly Naruto opened his eyes and saw Iruka smiling brightly, but he wasn't weaing his headband anymore. "What-"

"Congratulations, Naruto. You graduated!"

* * *

_Chapter 2 End_

_You may notice some differences compared to the canon scene. Since the Monado gave Naruto the vision of Iruka protecting him, he knew that Iruka did not actually hate him and therefore did not run away, which leads to the fight taking place in the original area without the chase and transform disguises._

_There will be some small changes like this, as well as dialogue being slightly different than expected. I don't like following 100% to the letter, especially since I'm going off of fan translations (that haven't been updated in 10 years probably). There will also be some big changes, as you might expect. Yes, I'll be going through the whole Naruto series (assuming my interest in writing doesn't die again)._

_I struggled on whether I wanted to have Naruto use kage bunshin in this way or have him use Monado Buster, but I had two problems against that. 1) It ignores his mastery of kage bunshin. 2) Buster would be way overpowered for this early._

_As this chapter indicates, I'm taking some creative liberty with how the Monado and ninjutsu work in conjunction with each other. This will be a repeating occurrence so if that bothers you, I suggest quitting now. Other jutsu will be channeled (and some amplified) by the Monado later in this story, so you've been warned on that count._

_Kage bunshin__ – Shadow Clone_


	3. Survival Training

"Hmm, how can I say this?" Jounin sensei Hatake Kakashi look at the three new genin in the room he had just entered. He knew he would be late; he always was. It was a habit he had picked up from his friend Obito before his death. Having Obito's Sharingan implanted in his left eye made sure of that.

Of course, his tardiness did not excuse the chalk board eraser that had fallen on his head as soon as the door was opened. Admittedly he hadn't been expecting it, but childish pranks weren't going to cut it for full-fledged shinobi.

"My first impression is… I don't like you guys."

All three kids looked crestfallen, though one simply looked more agitated than he had been before.

'_Uchiha Sasuke…'_ Kakashi's eyes panned over to the blond member of his new team. _'And that must be the Monado that Hokage-sama told me about. We'll see what he can do with it.'_

"Meet me on the roof in five minutes," he added before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

"Let's begin with introducing yourselves."

"What is it you want to know?" the pink-haired girl asked.

"Likes, dislikes, dreams, hobbies…" Kakashi waved a hand around lazily to depict his lack of interest. "That kind of thing."

"Why don't you go first, sensei?" Naruto requested.

"Okay then. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I don't feel like telling you my likes or dislikes." The three genin frowned at this. "My dreams for the future… hmm. And I have a lot of hobbies."

'_At least we got his name,'_ mused the three genin.

"Now it's your turn," Kakashi continued. "Let's start with you on the right."

Naruto grinned. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto! I like cup ramen and I really like it when Iruka-sensei pays for my ramen. I also like it when the Monado actually work right and I hate when it doesn't."

The other two genin glanced at the sword sitting next to the blond. _'The Monado… where did the idiot get a weapon like that?'_ they thought.

"I also dislike the time it takes for ramen it to cook. My dream is to master the Monado and use it to surpass all the previous Hokage so that everyone in the village will acknowledge me!"

Kakashi's visible eye widened ever so slightly. _'If what Hokage-sama said about that sword is true… he just might do it.'_

"Hobbies?" Naruto continued. "Pranks, I guess."

'…_or not.'_ "Next."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke." The black-haired boy showed no interest in the conversation, though Kakashi had noticed him glancing at the Monado a few times. "There are many things I dislike and really nothing that I like." The girl visibly deflated at this. "Dreams… That is just a word. What I have is an ambition: to resurrect the Uchiha clan and kill a certain person."

'_So cool!'_

'_He better not mean me…'_

'_As I thought…'_

"Okay. Lastly the girl…"

"My name is Haruno Sakura. What I like is… well, the person I like…" She trailed off while glancing at Sasuke. "My dream for the future…?" _'Marriage!'_ "What I dislike is Naruto!" A dark cloud hovered over said blond's head as he cried. "My hobby is…" Another glance at Sasuke.

'_Girls these days are more interested in love…'_ "Okay, that's it for the introductions. Tomorrow you'll start your first assignment as shinobi."

"What kind of assignment?!" Naruto asked.

"Survival training."

"Training?"

"Why is our first assignment more training?" Sakura questioned. "We had enough of that at the academy."

"This won't be any normal training. I'll be your opponent." The group sat in silence for a moment. "And there's one more thing different about this training."

"What is it?"

"Out of the twenty-seven students who graduated from the academy, only nine will be chosen to become genin. The rest will be sent back to the academy for a whole year." Naruto looked murderous, Sakura looked completely shocked, and Sasuke looked ever so slightly nervous.

"Haha, I knew you guys would freak out when I said that."

"How come?!" Naruto yelled. "We worked so hard to get here! What was the point of graduating?!"

'_I understand how he feels,'_ Sakura and Sasuke thought.

"That was just to select those who have a greater chance of becoming genin," Kakashi replied. "If that's all, then we'll meet tomorrow in training ground seven. Bring all of the shinobi tools you have. You'll need to take me seriously in order to pass."

'_I can't lose now!'_ Naruto told himself.

"Oh, and one more thing," Kakashi said before pushing away from the railing he was leaning against. "Don't eat breakfast tomorrow. If you do… you just might throw up."

* * *

"Come here and fight me!"

Kakashi stared at the idiot standing before him. "You're a bit off," he muttered. _'The others hid themselves well. Not that I don't know where they are, but it's better than rushing out here and shouting.'_

Naruto pulled the Monado off his back and brandished it at his opponent. "The only thing that's a bit off…" Naruto focused as the Monado opened to reveal its blue energy blade. "…Is your hair cut!" Naruto launched himself forward.

'_That weapon uses pure chakra!'_ Sasuke barely kept himself from yelling out in surprise.

'_So that's its true form,'_ Kakashi calmly watched the reckless boy. "I was going to teach you about shinobi taijutsu, but if you're going to use a weapon like that…" Naruto stopped his charge as he saw Kakashi reaching into the pouch on his hip.

He nearly fell to the ground when he noticed Kakashi had pulled out an orange book. No weapon in sight.

"What's wrong? Hurry up and attack!" Kakashi jeered as his eye scanned across the pages.

"But… why are you reading that book?"

"I want to know what happens next of course." Naruto really did hit the floor on that one. "But don't worry; it won't make a different against genin like you."

It took a moment for Naruto to register that comment as he picked himself up. A split second later, Naruto looked murderous once more and ran full tilt at Kakashi. "I'll kick your ass!"

Kakashi dodged easily under Naruto's first attack. Not wasting a moment, Naruto planted his foot and jumped back, aiming to take the man's head off.

Even thought he was only a foot or so away from his target, his motion slowed down and the world turn grey and blurry for a moment. Naruto saw his second attack miss and Kakashi's counter attack. _'Another one of those freaky visions!'_

When the world returned to normal, Naruto's attack missed once more and Kakashi reappeared directly behind him, holding his fingers in what appeared to be the tiger hand seal.

"A shinobi should never get caught from behind, idiot…"

"Huh?"

"Konoha Hiden Taijutsu no Ougi: Sennen Goroshi!"

Knowing the attack was coming, Naruto slammed the blade of the Monado straight down into the ground and jumped above Kakashi. Even from above, Naruto could see the shock in Kakashi's visible eye. Using the Monado as leverage, Naruto slammed his feet down towards Kakashi, only to pass straight through as the jounin exploded into a cloud of smoke.

'_That wasn't a bad move,'_ Sasuke had to admit. _'He dodged it with perfect timing. It's too bad he couldn't predict Kakashi's __kawarimi no jutsu__.'_

Naruto quickly removed his weapon from the ground and looked around for his opponent only to find him standing a short distance away seemingly reading his book. Kakashi was actually breathing a little heavier than normal. Naruto's counterattack had nearly taken him by surprise.

'_How did he read my attack? He shouldn't have had time to dodge it.'_

"Not bad at all, Naruto," Kakashi praised him. "You almost caught me off guard there."

"Hehe, not bad yourself," Naruto shot back. "You still dodged me, though. I guess I'll have to turn things up a notch."

Naruto focused his chakra the same way he had done against Mizuki. He hadn't noticed it last time, caught up in his anger at the man, but this time he saw the Monado's blade turn orange and the symbol on the hilt change.

'_That symbol,'_ Kakashi mused. _'So the rumors are true.'_

"If one attack isn't enough, how about one thousand?" Naruto shouted. "Monado Bunshin!"

A large cloud of smoke erupted around Naruto. Kakashi actually seemed wary of what may pop out. He had heard from the Hokage about Naruto summoning over a thousand shadow clones. Even as a jounin against a genin, those weren't odds he was willing to bet on.

Kakashi nearly fell over as the smoke cleared to show only seven clones standing next to the original.

"Huh what?!" the original Naruto yelled. "What happened to the thousand clones I tried to summon?"

"I guess you still don't have the hang of it, boss," one of the clones replied. "Maybe the other night was just a fluke."

'_His chakra control is terrible,'_ Kakashi realized. _'He must have created a thousand by accident when he flooded the jutsu with chakra against Mizuki. It seems like the Monado helps stabilize things a bit, but it can only help so much for an idiot like Naruto.'_

"So much for a thousand attacks," he jeered. _'I'll give him credit, though. Kage Bunshin should be impossible for a kid his age. I suppose it's the Kyuubi adding onto his- !'_

Kakashi's thoughts were cut short when he was suddenly grappled from behind. To his surprise, there was a Naruto clone gripped fiercely on his back.

"Haha," the clone laughed, "I can make the clone appear anywhere in a pretty wide range around me. You were so distracted by the big cloud you didn't notice me right behind you!"

'_This kid… maybe he's not as much of an idiot as people think. Still…'_

'_Since when was Naruto this good?'_ Sasuke asked. _'First that dodge earlier and now clones that are more than just illusions… and he even caught Kakashi by surprise again.'_

'_Naruto's way cooler than I thought,'_ Sakura thought.

"Nowhere to run this time!" Naruto called as he and his clones converged on the immobile Kakashi. The Monado slashed right through Kakashi only to reveal that Naruto had cleaved one of his own clones in two before it disappeared in a blast of smoke along with the one that had been grappling it.

"What?!"

'_This is going nowhere,'_ Sasuke complained. _'He can't read Kakashi's __kawarimi__ at all. He had good moves, but Kakashi's always a step ahead of him no matter what.'_

Naruto quickly looked around but only saw his clones around him. He had made eight, the seven Kakashi had seen plus the one that appeared in his blind spot. Now there were only six clones.

"One of you is really Kakashi using henge no jutsu, aren't you!" he yelled.

"If you just dispel all the clones, you'll find out which one is Kakashi, boss!"

"Great idea!" Naruto replied. The clones all disappeared, leaving Naruto standing by himself in the field. "That was a terrible idea!"

'_Idiot.'_

'_So uncool…'_

* * *

Kakashi couldn't help but be disappointed in his students. Naruto and Sasuke had displayed decent skill, but neither managed to get a bell.

Sasuke had impressed the jounin by using a fire jutsu, something that shouldn't be possible for most genin. In the end, Sasuke came close but couldn't manage to actually take the bell.

Naruto had noticed a bell lying on the ground and dashed for it, only to be caught by Kakashi's trap. He then noticed a lunchbox sitting behind some bushes near the log posts and went to go take it, thinking Kakashi wouldn't notice. Of course he was caught before he could even take a bite. His punishment was being tied to the post while Kakashi ate. The Monado was perched on top of the log.

Sakura went down instantly thanks to a genjutsu.

She was sadly the weakest of the trio so far, aside from her academy grades.

'_Sadly, the academy is very different from real life,'_ Kakashi reminded himself. _'Still… those two are the most impressive genin to ever take this test, so I'll give them another shot.'_

After a long-winded explanation on the true purpose of the test being teamwork (which had been spurred on by Sasuke trying to attack Kakashi again) Kakashi let Sasuke and Sakura eat lunch while Naruto looked on.

"Eat your lunch and then come after me one last time," he said. "Come at me together or you'll never make it. Oh, and don't give any to Naruto."

"What? Why?!"

"It's punishment for trying to eat on your own. If either of you give Naruto any food, you will fail immediately." A demonic aura seemed to surround their sensei for a moment. "Is that clear?"

Finally he left them to eat. Naruto's stomach grumbled almost constantly even though he persisted that he wasn't hungry. After a few minutes, Sasuke finally caved in and handed his lunch to the blond.

"Sasuke-kun, sensei just said-"

"I don't sense him anywhere near," Sasuke explained. "If Naruto doesn't eat, he'll probably be too weak to help. We have to work together to get the bells."

Sakura looked on, switching between Naruto and Sasuke before finally deciding to give her food up as well.

"I have to admit you two have a better chance than me of getting the bells," she said with her head bowed, "but I'll help however I can!"

Naruto blushed and smiled. "Thanks, Sakura-chan."

Just then, a massive blast of smoke erupted from behind the memorial stone on front of them.

"YOU GUYS…!"

"What?!"

The smoke cleared instantly to reveal Kakashi smiling down at them through his mask.

"…Pass."

"Pass?" Sakura echoed frantically. "How?"

"You guys are the first to ever pass my test," Kakashi explained. "It's near impossible for a single genin to take a bell from an elite jounin like me, but all the upstarts always think they can do it on their own." Naruto and Sasuke looked away at this. "As for why you guys made it, it's cause you shared your lunch."

"But you said-"

"You know," he interrupted Sakura's comment, "those who don't follow the rules are considered trash in the ninja world." Silence reigned over the team for a moment. "But… those who don't take care of their comrades are even worse than trash."

'_We did it!'_

"That ends the survival training! All of you pass! Starting tomorrow, we'll be taking on missions as Team 7!"

* * *

_Chapter 3 End_

_I'm not super happy with how this turned out. It's made me realize that I didn't change enough from canon to leave in a lot of the scenes. Stuff that isn't changed by the Monado's inclusion, like the teamwork speech, will usually be glossed over. That's also what happened with Konohamaru and Ebisu. It wasn't important enough to include, so I skipped over it. Konohamaru will probably appear for comic relief later as he does in canon._

_Konoha Hiden Taijutsu no Ougi: Sennen Goroshi__ – Leaf Village Secret Technique: 1000 Years of Death_

_Kawarimi__ \- Substitution_


	4. The Land of Waves

"Are you sure this thing is a sword, runt? It just looks like some super fancy clubbing stick!"

"It's called the Monado, you _super_ drunk idiot! And yes, it's a sword. It's an awesome sword that only I can use!"

Not for the first time since forming their team, Sasuke sent a wary glance at the weapon on Naruto's back. It was an oddity the likes of which he had never seen before. Sure, he remembered a few days when Naruto had brought the weapon to the academy some years ago, but he had entirely forgotten about it since Naruto hadn't been seen with it for years.

'_Where did he get something like that?'_ Sasuke wondered for what must have been the thousandth time. _'And what does he mean he's the only one that can use it? How does he even know something like that?'_

Sasuke had asked Kakashi about it during their team training (which usually consisted of boring practice fights seeing as their sensei was almost as lazy as Shikamaru). The jounin told Sasuke that he didn't know much; all he knew was that someone from a far off land had given the Monado to Naruto as a gift and then disappeared. This just created more questions in Sasuke's mind.

'_Why would someone from a far off land come all the way here to give such an amazing weapon to a dead last like Naruto? And how did they even know about him? He has no family from what I can tell, and there are no records of an Uzumaki clan from what I can find in the library.'_

After that first day of survival training, Naruto had been able to control the Monado better. He could consistently summon dozens of shadow clones with it, though he said many times he felt like it should have been more.

"I'm tellin' you it really is a super powerful sword!"

"And I'm tellin' you it's just a big metal stick!"

Aside from the daily training exercises (if one could call them that) Team 7 had also been taking on missions from the Hokage. Unfortunately for everyone involved, these missions consisted almost exclusively of babysitting, walking dogs, and repeatedly capturing the Fire Daimyo's wife's cat.

To no one's surprise, Naruto eventually got fed up with these rather dull missions and demanded a tougher one. The Hokage responded by giving them a C-rank missions to protect Tazuna, a bridge builder from the Land of Waves. Tazuna was a brash, somewhat annoying man who constantly drank from a bottle of what they all assumed to be sake at his hip.

This was why the team was walking down the road towards the Land of Waves with the bridge builder in tow. Naruto and Tazuna had hit it off splendidly and were constantly at each others' throats over one thing or another.

Sasuke glanced again at the Monado, but turned his attention to Naruto when he noticed a strange look cross his teammate's face. Suddenly the blond jogged ahead to where Sasuke could see a water puddle on the side of the road.

"Aww man, I love splashing in these things!" he yelled as he jumped into the puddle and splashed water everywhere. "The look on peoples' faces when you get them with the water is priceless!" He continued splashing as everyone caught up. "It's too bad there hasn't been any rain lately."

Sasuke barely caught the look Naruto sent at Kakashi, but he definitely noticed Kakashi raise an eyebrow in response, before nodding his head ever so slightly.

'_What was that about?'_ Sasuke wondered. _'Wait, if there hasn't been any rain, how is there-'_ A look of comprehension crossed Sasuke's face and he threw a glance at Kakashi as well, signaling that he knew about the threat as well.

"Damn it Naruto, we're on an important mission! Grow up for once, will you?!"

'_Looks like Sakura's still clueless, though.'_

Sasuke felt a presence behind the group, but he noticed Kakashi throw a glance at him and Naruto.

'_He wants us to handle it… lazy sensei…'_

A spiked chain wrapped around Kakashi and everyone turned to find two shinobi with metal masks and the chain connected to a gauntlet on their arms.

"One down."

The two shinobi pulled and the chain shredded right through Kakashi's body. In an instant, the two moved behind Naruto.

"Two down."

"Think again, assholes!"

The Monado flared to life in his hands and he swung behind him, fending off the attackers. They backed up to avoid the hit, but they failed to notice Sasuke in the air behind them ready to strike. Seeing his chance, Naruto made a horizontal slice just as Sasuke landed on their backs. Sasuke grabbed the gauntlets and held them down, allowing Naruto cut right through them.

"These brats…!"

With his hands still on the gauntlets, Sasuke propped himself up and kicked the two ninja in their faces, launching them backward. Unfortunately for Sasuke, backward happened to be the direction that Sakura and Tazuna were. Everything had happened so quickly, Sakura hadn't even thought to take out a kunai to defend herself (and their client) with.

They landed and rushed towards Sakura and the bridge builder. Sasuke was too far away to react, but Naruto focused his power and readied his attack.

"Oh no you don't! Monado Bunsh-!"

Just before they could reach Sakura, Kakashi appeared and caught both of them with a clothesline, knocking them both out cold.

* * *

"Good job, guys. Especially you, Naruto and Sasuke."

Naruto grinned happily and Sasuke smirked a bit.

'_I guess I am really am the weakest link on this team…'_

"Sakura."

"Yes?"

Kakashi looked down at the only female member of the team. For a moment it looked like he would be angry, but he smiled, though she could only tell by the way he closed his visible eye. "Great job protecting Tazuna-san."

"Oh! Of course!"

"Speaking of which…" Kakashi turned to face the two assassins that had been tied up nearby. One of them was still unconscious, but the other was listening intently. "These two are chuunin from the Village Hidden in the Mist."

"How did you know we were there?" the conscious one asked.

Kakashi laughed. "Just like Naruto said… It hasn't rained anywhere near here in a week."

The assassin clicked his tongue. "Beaten by a couple rookies…"

"But if you knew that," Tazuna started, "why did you let the kids fight?"

"Well, Naruto and Sasuke both let me know they had detected them… though Naruto was less silent about it." Kakashi blinked and looked down at his blond charge. "Come to think of it, how did you detect them, Naruto?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, the Monado showed me a vision as we were walking up to the puddle," he explained.

"A vision?"

"Yeah, the Monado shows me the future sometimes!" Everyone looked skeptical. "It did the same thing back during the survival training; I dodged your attack, remember sensei?"

Recognition dawned on what was visible of Kakashi's face. "Now that you mention it, that would explain that time." He waved it off a moment later. "More importantly, I let them attack because there was something I needed to find out about these two." He sent a lazy look at their client. "I needed to see who these ninja were after."

"How do you mean?"

"Meaning… where they after you or one of us? We didn't hear anything about shinobi being after you. We were simply told to protect you from thieves. This was supposed to be a simple protection mission until the bridge was completed, but now this is at least a B-rank mission.

"I'm sure you have your reasons, but it causes problems for the village when you lie about the details." He looked around at the three genin. "This might be a bit too much for them."

"Didn't you see us handle those chuunin?!" Naruto shouted. "We can handle this mission just fine!"

Kakashi studied the blond for a moment. "Most likely whoever is after Tazuna-san will send a jounin next time instead of just chuunin."

"Then I'll kick the jounin's ass right back to their village! As long as I have the Monado I can predict their movements and move out of the way! They can't win if they never hit me, right?"

"I wonder about that…"

"Well fine, you guys head back to Konoha then!" Naruto shouted. "I'm gonna finish the mission and take the old drunk all the way to the Land of Waves! There's no way I'm gonna run off scared now."

Kakashi palmed his face before sighing and looking at his two other students. "Are you guys okay with continuing?"

"Yeah, I wanted to keep going anyway," Sasuke answered.

"I'm fine with it if you all are," Sakura said.

"Well Tazuna-san, it looks like you're stuck with us," Kakashi said as the group continued forward.

Tazuna stood speechless for a moment before smiling. "Super thanks…"

* * *

It turned out that Tazuna was being targeted by a man named Gatou. Gatou had used ninjas and thugs to take over dozens of businesses and even countries. He was sucking the Land of Waves dry, trying to get as much money as he could from the region before leaving it to die and moving on to his next conquest.

The bridge that Tazuna was building would reignite the economy and help push Gatou out, so he had hired shinobi to take the bridge builder down. He hadn't counted on Team 7 getting in the way, though.

"Everyone get down!"

Kakashi dropped to the ground as a gigantic sword flew through the air right where their heads had been. Sasuke had pulled Tazuna out of the way and Sakura had tackled Naruto to the ground.

An instant later, a tall man was standing on the handle of the sword, now embedded in a nearby tree. Team 7 looked up at the man and could tell immediately that he was on a different level than the two they had fought before.

"Well… if it isn't the Demon of the Hidden Mist… Momochi Zabuza." Kakashi held an arm out to signal his team to stay back. "Everybody, leave this one to me. He's on a whole other level."

"Kakashi of the Sharingan…" the new enemy grunted through his own face mask. "Sorry, but the old man is mine."

"Surround and protect Tazuna-san," Kakashi ordered as he lifted up his headband to reveal his left eye. "I'll fight him."

Naruto looked at Kakashi as he got into position with Sakura and Sasuke protecting their client. Rather than a normal eye, Naruto could see a red iris with three black tomoe surrounding the pupil.

The world stopped and another vision came to Naruto. Unlike his previous visions, he didn't recognize the area that he could see now. Naruto could tell he was on the ground or floor of wherever they were and Sasuke was standing over him, facing away. He could barely see what looked like mirrors all around them, but what he noticed was the insane amount of needles covering Sasuke's body.

"Why?" Naruto heard himself yell. "Why did you save me?! I didn't ask for your help!"

"I don't know," Sasuke answered feebly. "My body just moved on its own… idiot."

Sasuke fell backwards into Naruto's arms. He was bleeding all over. "I told myself," he whispered, "I wouldn't die until I killed my brother." Sasuke's eyes closed slowly. "Don't you die too…"

Suddenly everything returned to normal and Naruto gasped heavily. _'What the hell was that?'_ he yelled in his mind. _'That wasn't like any of the other visions I've had. Could that… Could that be something that happens further in the future?'_

"Now, let's end all the talking…"

Naruto snapped back to attention. _'Not good. I was completely out of it for a minute there.'_

"I have to kill that old man."

Naruto tightened his grip on the Monado and kept his senses up, waiting for some kind of attack.

"But it seems I have to kill you first, Kakashi!"

Zabuza pushed away from the tree, pulling his sword with him. He landed on top of the nearby lake. He held his arms in a strange fashion that none of the genin recognized, but they knew it had to be for a jutsu of some kind.

"Ninpo: Kirigakure no jutsu."

Thick mist spread out from around Zabuza and covered the area. In just a few seconds, it had become difficult to even see a few feet away.

"I can't see a thing!" Naruto hissed. "Where did all this mist come from?"

"In the Hidden Mist, Zabuza was known as the foremost expert of the silent killing technique," Kakashi explained. "He was so good that most people didn't even realize they were dead until it was too late."

"Heheh! Don't talk about me like I'm dead, Kakashi!" Zabuza's voice echoed from all around them at once.

Complete silence reigned over them all for almost a minute, though it seemed to last for hours.

"Eight choices," Zabuza's voice finally called from the mist. "Liver, lungs, spine, clavicle, jugular, brain, kidneys, heart."

'_What's this guy on about?'_

"Eight choices for certain death… Which one should I go after?"

A chill ran over the entire group, but no one made a move. Naruto could feel someone behind him shaking with fear. _'Sakura-chan must be terrified out of her mind. Can't really blame her; I am, too.'_

"Don't worry, Sasuke," Kakashi suddenly said. "I'll protect you guys even if it kills me." He turned just enough that they could see his eyes closed to show he was smiling. "I don't let my precious people die."

For a split second they could feel a sense of security from Kakashi's declaration.

"It's over."

Zabuza appeared suddenly in the middle of their formation. Before he could even make a move to swing his gigantic sword, Kakashi had appeared and shoved a kunai into the assassin's abdomen. Everyone fell away from the two jounin as blood leaked from Zabuza's- _'That's not blood!'_

"Sensei, behind you!"

Zabuza appeared once more and cleaved Kakashi in two. Sakura shrieked even as Kakashi's body dissolved into water, revealing his water clone technique. A kunai appeared at his throat and Zabuza twitched slightly.

"Don't move!" Kakashi ordered. "It's over."

Zabuza just laughed. "It's over?" he echoed. "You don't get it. There's no way you can beat me if all you do is copy me like a monkey." A shadow crept over Kakashi's shoulder. "I'm not that easy!"

Kakashi slashed through the Zabuza in front of him, revealing another water clone. "That one's a fake, too!"

Zabuza swung full with his great sword, but Kakashi ducked underneath. The momentum carried the sword until it dug into the ground, but Zabuza used that momentum to turn his body around and launch a devastating kick to Kakashi's stomach which sent the Cyclops into the lake.

'_What?! Why is the water so heavy?'_

"Suirou no jutsu!"

"What!?"

"Water is my specialty," Zabuza explained. "I have you trapped in an inescapable prison. Now there's nothing stopping me from taking out those three pests!"

Another clone rose up from the lake and stepped onto the shore in front of the genin. It even had a copy of Zabuza's sword on its back. "Heheheh, you must think wearing those headbands makes you a real shinobi!" The clone glared at them. "A true shinobi is someone who has stared death in the face countless times and lived."

The mist began to thicken up again. "Only when you're good enough to be listed in my bingo book can you call yourself a shinobi." The mist completely obscured their view. "You are not shinobi."

'_He disappeared!'_

Naruto barely had time to think before he was sent skidding backwards. His headband had been knocked off and the clone stepped on it. "Brats."

"Just go!" Kakashi shouted. "Take Tazuna and run away! You have no chance of beating him, but as long as he's keeping me trapped he can't move! His water clone can't move very far from his real body so take Tazuna and go!"

Naruto gripped the Monado and stared at the imposing ninja before him.

'_This is a jounin. A real ninja. How can I…'_

Zabuza stared back and the image of a demon hovered over his back.

'_Can I beat him?'_

"_Of course you can."_ Naruto blinked. _"The Monado bends to your will."_ He looked down at the blade in his hand.

'_Is the Monado… talking to me?'_

He looked up at Zabuza again, but the threatening image of the demon had disappeared. He could see past the water clone to where the real Zabuza was still holding Kakashi prisoner.

'_I caught Kakashi-sensei off guard with the Monado before,'_ Naruto told himself. _'Zabuza doesn't know I can see the future, so I have to bet on that!'_

He picked himself up and brandished the Monado. "Monado," he whispered, "lend me your power." The blade came to life in his hands and the blue light pushed the mist back into the surrounding trees.

"That's a rather intriguing sword you have there, brat. What's it do?"

Naruto chuckled. "Like I'll just up and tell you, asshole!" He rushed forward, holding the Monado back for a side swipe. As he ran forward, he saw a vision of Zabuza's counterattack. At the last moment, Naruto ducked under an attack and swiped at the clone's feet. It jumped away, allowing Naruto to reclaim his headband.

'_How did he dodge that attack?'_ more than one person thought.

"Hey, eyebrow-less freak," Naruto called as he tied his headband in place. "I'm the ninja who will be Hokage! Uzumaki Naruto!" He pointed the Monado at the real Zabuza. "Put that in your bingo book and shove it up your ass!"

He rushed forward again and prepared another attack. The clone responded by throwing his foot into Naruto's gut, but the attack never connected. Naruto moved to the side at the last second again and swung his weapon only to have it blocked by the clone's sword.

'_Well, I suppose hoping it would cut through steels was just wishful thinking.'_

The blade turned orange and Zabuza's eye twitched. "Monado Bunshin!"

'_Monado…?'_

Dozens of Naruto clones appeared around them and Zabuza quickly found himself smothered in the mob. _'These are shadow clones!' _"Impressive, but not good enough!" He slashed in a wide arc, clearing out all of the clones, but the real Naruto was nowhere in sight. He could clearly see the bridge builder and the other two genin not far off.

"Where'd that brat go?"

"Right above you, no-brows!"

The water clone jumped to the side to avoid the oncoming strike, only to find Naruto right behind him. "Shi-!" The clone's sword met the Monado once more, but it had been caught off balance by Naruto's trick and had no way to defend itself against the fist that came through the back of its head.

Water fell to the ground as Naruto heaved a deep sigh of relief.

"I underestimated you, brat."

'_Oh right that was just a clone…'_

"How on earth did you do that, Naruto?" Sakura whispered.

"It was the power of the Monado."

"I think I'll kill you and take that sword for myself, boy," Zabuza declared.

"You're not the first person to tell me that," Naruto shot back. "And the last guy that said it got beat to a pulp, so you're not in really good company there."

Zabuza began to chuckle. It began soft yet dark, but built up quickly until he was laughing so hard he couldn't even keep his eyes on them. "Hahahaa, you guys are more interesting than I thought!" he yelled.

A dozen water clones emerged from the lake and stalked forward.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Naruto cursed. "It took all of that just to beat one clone, and now there's a bunch of 'em!"

"_The Monado is yours to wield. Its power is yours to control."_

The light from the Monado intensified and the symbol on the hilt changed to 斬which means "to slash."

"Ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred, it doesn't matter how many clones you make!" Naruto cried. "I'll take them all down and you with them!" The Monado's blade stretched until it reached above the treetops and he swung it down with as much power as he could.

"Monado… BUSTER!"

Zabuza barely managed to pull his hand away from the prison before the gigantic blade cut through it. The shockwave pushed him away and knocked the water clones back, dispelling them where they landed.

Water fell from the sky for a short moment as the Monado returned to normal and then the blade disappeared altogether.

Before he could think about what he had just done, Naruto fell to the ground unconscious.

* * *

He woke up in a place he didn't recognize. In fact, he couldn't really see anything around him at all. It was like he was sitting in a room with no walls but the floor just extended forever in all directions. It was an endless expanse of nothingness that surrounded him. And then he finally noticed the man standing above him.

"Hello, Naruto."

* * *

_Chapter 4 End_

_First things first, I want to talk about the change in Naruto's attitude. Rather than being scared, he was more confident because he knew about the attack beforehand. He also gained confidence during the Zabuza clone bit because he trusted in the Monado's power. On that note as well, I took some liberty in assuming that water clones cannot communicate telepathically with the original user, and they also have much less power than the user so it wouldn't be nearly as difficult for Naruto to get a Zabuza clone off balance with a surprise, even one as rudimentary as that._

_Not sure how everyone feels about me including the kanji symbols for the Monado powers, but I think it's a cool idea so I'll keep doing it for now at least._

_Suirou no jutsu – Water Prison technique_

_Ninpo: Kirigakure no Jutsu - Ninja Art: Hidden Mist technique_


	5. Questions, Answers & More Questions

"Hello Naruto."

The young boy looked up at the man standing before him. He was wearing a blue jacket of some sort. Naruto had never seen clothing like that before. The man also had silver hair and although he was smiling, Naruto could tell this man was sharp and very smart.

"You may call me Alvis."

"Alvis?" he echoed.

"Yes. It is a name I used at one point." Alvis reached down to grab Naruto's arm and lifted the boy to his feet.

"Alvis… where are we?"

"There are two ways to answer that question," Alvis replied. "The simple answer is that we are in your mind."

"In my mind? How is that possible?"

Alvis laughed a bit. "You're a strange one to be asking that question."

"How do you mean?"

Alvis raised a hand and seemed to pick something out of the air. In an instant, the endless expanse crashed down around them only to be replaced by what looked like a dark sewer. Water came up to his ankles and Naruto shivered a bit.

"The more complicated answer," Alvis said as he walked forward. Naruto could see large iron bars like a jail cell extending from the floor to the ceiling, some fifty meters high. "Is that we are inside the seal created by the Fourth Hokage."

"That makes even less sense!" Naruto promptly shouted.

"As I said, it is a more complicated answer," Alvis leaned his back against one of the gigantic iron bars. "Quite obviously we are not inside the seal itself. I would say this is a representation of the seal called up by your mind."

As expected, the explanation went completely over Naruto's head.

"Let us just say that we are inside the seal, yes?"

"Okay then." Naruto still looked incredibly confused, but a sudden realization hit him. "But then… if this is the Fourth's seal… this cage must be-"

"**I was wondering when you would notice, brat."**

A wave of pure malice hit Naruto a moment later, so concentrated it felt like he had rammed into a brick wall. He doubled over before looking back up to see Alvis completely unaffected.

"You…" Naruto struggled to speak. "You're the Kyuubi!"

"**Indeed, and you are the miserable brat that insufferable Yondaime sealed me in."**

The fox's voice was deep, deeper than Naruto had ever thought a voice could be. It grated against his ears, as if it actually hurt to even listen to it speak.

With no notion of bravado, Naruto admitted freely that he was terrified by the beast before him. Through the bars, he could see the fox's glowing red eyes, and in the shadows he could barely make out the motion of nine tails lazily swinging to and fro.

"**You are right to fear me, young one,"** the fox said.

"The fox cannot harm you here," Alvis explained. Naruto had almost forgotten he was there. "The seal prevents the fox from affecting you, to an extent."

"To what extent?"

"I am not certain, but you should be able to call upon the fox's chakra-"

"**INSOLENCE! As if I would simply allow this brat to-"**

Alvis turned his sharp gaze to the Kyuubi and the fox immediately backed down.

"Okay, so I understand why the fox is here," Naruto said. Alvis turned back to face the young man. "But why are you here, Alvis? If this is inside my mind, how did you get here?"

"We have much to discuss, Naruto," he replied. "But perhaps we should return to our previous surroundings."

"**You insolent br-"**

The fox's anger was cut off as the endless expanse from before returned around them. "The fox will not be able to interrupt us here. I thought it would be good for you to meet it, though. Under better circumstances than would happen otherwise."

"Otherwise?" Naruto echoed. "Okay, this is starting to piss me off! Who are you, Alvis?"

"I am a remnant of a world that has long since disappeared." A grassy field suddenly appeared beneath their feet. Naruto jumped away at first. "When the god of the new world no longer needed me, he sealed me away for many years. I knew why, though. He needed to keep me safe so that I would be passed on to another who needed my power."

Alvis stared at Naruto. "Shulk passed my power on to you because he knew that you would need it."

Naruto's eyes shot open. "Shulk… but-"

"I am Monado."

Alvis had said those words as if they explained everything, but it just created dozens more questions for Naruto. "Wait… you're the Monado? How is that even possible?"

"Let us say that I am the spirit within the Monado," Alvis replied. "In reality, it is quite a bit more complicated than that, but I shall leave it there for now."

Naruto stared dumbfounded as the man. He really had no way to respond to this revelation. Alvis had shown up all of a sudden and dropped this bombshell on him right in the middle of-

"Wait, what about the fight with Zabuza?"

"No need to worry," Alvis answered quickly. "Your sensei dispatched of Zabuza very handily after you freed him from Zabuza's trap. You fell unconscious after your attack and your teammates seem to have been taking care of you since."

The young boy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I was really afraid that wasn't going to work against him." A sudden thought came to Naruto when he thought about the attack he had used. "Wait a sec, how did I even know how to do that in the first place?"

Alvis chuckled a bit. "How did you know you could use the Monado with your Kage Bunshin no Jutsu?" Naruto didn't have an answer for that. "The Monado responds to its wielder's desire. Your desire was to defeat Mizuki with the new technique you had learned, and so the Monado worked for you." Naruto seemed to catch on.

"So when I wanted to free Kakashi-sensei from the water prison…"

"The Monado made that possible," Alvis finished.

"Wow, the Monado is pretty cool, huh?" Naruto flashed a grin.

Alvis smirked. "Yes, it is a rather unique weapon." He walked forward and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I should warn you, however, the overusing the Monado's power would be not be good for you at the present time. Using the Monado just now caused you to fall unconscious due to the massive strain on your chakra."

Suddenly Naruto felt strange, like he was losing consciousness again.

"Our time here seems to be at an end, Naruto. Remember what I told you. The Monado bends to your will."

* * *

"WAHHH‼"

Naruto jumped up in his bed as a loud yell rang from somewhere in the house.

Wait… house?

"Kakashi-sensei? Sakura-chan? Where are you guys?"

"Quit yelling."

Naruto looked to his side to find Sasuke sitting there. He had one leg pulled up on his chair and he looked like he had been there for a while.

"Sasuke… where are we?"

"This is the bridge-builder's house. We carried you here after you passed out."

"Oh yeah, what happened with that Zabuza guy?"

Sasuke's eyes darkened. "Kakashi-sensei… took care of him using his Sharingan."

"All by himself?" Naruto grinned, oblivious to Sasuke's concern. "Wow, Sensei is pretty cool, huh?"

Sasuke just grimaced. _'How on earth did he get a Sharingan? Only the Uchiha clan-'_

"I heard Naruto yelling. Is he awake?"

Sakura walked in carrying a glass of water. "Yeah, I'm all good now, Sakura-chan." He eyed the glass of water. "Is that for me?"

Sakura flinched. '_Actually I was getting this for Sasuke since it was his turn to keep on eye on Naruto…'_ "Uh, yeah, I figured you'd be thirsty when you woke up."

"Sakura, who was that yelling downstairs a moment ago?" Sasuke asked.

The pinkette flushed red. "I was… trying to look under Sensei's mask…" Naruto doubled over laughing and Sasuke looked mildly intrigued. "But he woke up just as I was about to see."

* * *

"What's up, Sensei? Something's been bothering you for a while now."

Kakashi looked around at his students and Tazuna's family. They were all seated around the dinner table. Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, had cooked up some dinner, and Kakashi had to admit that she did a good job considering what the ingredients had looked like beforehand.

"It's just something about the fight with Zabuza," he explained. They had explained to Naruto about the hunter that had come to finish off and carry the missing-nin's body away. "Hunter-nins are supposed to dispose of the body on site, right where the kill is made."

"Dispose?" Naruto echoed.

"Right, when missing-nins escape, they pose a risk of leaking secrets about the village they're from," Kakashi lectured. "Things such as chakra types, medicinal herbs, and other information can be leaked by missing-nin even after death. It's the job of the hunter-nin to immediately destroy the corpse as soon as the kill is confirmed so that none of the information gets out to other villages. In fact, even speaking with us so casually like that hunter did was rather strange…"

"So what are you getting at, Sensei?"

Kakashi leered at his students as Tazuna and his daughter listened in. "Rather than disposing of the corpse on site, the hunter took Zabuza away."

"Couldn't he have been trying to shield us from watching that?" Sakura asked.

"Hunters wouldn't care about something like that."

"Maybe he didn't want us to watch how they dispose of their bodies since we're from a different village," Naruto suggested.

"If that were the case, he should have killed Zabuza and taken him away without showing himself," Kakashi answered. "No, something isn't right here at all. And the way he killed Zabuza is what worries me the most."

"Senbon needles…" Sasuke muttered. Suddenly a terrified look crossed his face. "No way…"

"Exactly."

"What are you saying?" Tazuna finally asked.

"More than likely… Zabuza is still alive."

Naruto wanted to shout, but his world suddenly turned to the greyed-out slow motion world that meant he was having a vision. Once more he could see himself and Sasuke standing inside a dome of mirrors. The image morphed and in its place he could see Kakashi with his hand shoved through the heart of a boy wearing a hunter mask with Zabuza posed to slice through the both of them.

Naruto gasped loudly and fell over as he returned to the real world.

"Naruto, what are you-"

"Kakashi-sensei, you're right! Zabuza's still alive and the hunter is working with him!"

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "How could…" He then remembered what Naruto had said about the Monado giving him visions of the future. "Tazuna-san, could you take your family into the other room for a moment? I need a private word with my team."

"Why bother?" a shrill voice suddenly yelled. "Why are you even trying? Gatou will just kill all of you anyway!"

"Inari, that's no way to speak to our guests!" Tsunami chided. "Come here and let me give you a lesson in manners."

"Leave me alone! It won't matter once Gatou kills us all anyway!" Inari ran up the stairs and disappeared around the corner.

Tsunami sighed and apologized before going after him. Tazuna stepped into the kitchen and they could hear him beginning to wash the dishes.

Now that they were alone Kakashi looked at Naruto. "What you told us before, about the Monado," he began. "Is it true?"

"Yeah, it shows me the future. When it happens everything looks really weird and I can't really see clearly." Naruto was waving his hands around as if his gestures would help make sense of what he was saying. "It's usually clearer when it's closer to what I see. Like when I dodged your attack or when I could tell those two Mist ninjas were hiding in the puddle, it was really clear."

"But when you see something further into the future…"

"Everything is kinda hazy and doesn't really make sense."

"Now hold on a second," Sakura said. "Are you really expecting me to believe that Naruto can see the future?"

Kakashi understood her disbelief, but there really wasn't another explanation for all the things Naruto had done. And they had all seen the Monado's power first hand when he broke Zabuza away from the prison.

"I'm not saying I fully believe it just yet," Kakashi stated, "but we should hear what Naruto has to say. A ninja should always take in whatever information they can and then decide what to do with that info afterward."

Three pairs of eyes landed on Naruto once more. "Well, I've seen this vision twice now. The first time it showed me and Sasuke inside some weird dome made of mirrors and being attacked by needles. Then Sasuke-" Naruto stopped when he realized that he was essentially about to tell Sasuke that he was going to die. "Then Sasuke manages to break us out, I think."

Kakashi narrowed his visible eye. _'An obvious lie, but I'll let it slide.'_

"This time it showed Kakashi-sensei with his hand sticking through a hunter-nin's chest with Zabuza ready to cut the two of you in half."

"He cut down his partner just like that?" Sakura wondered.

"The fake hunter probably blocked my attack so that Zabuza could retaliate," Kakashi explained, realizing just how weird it was to be explaining the future while using the past tense.

Kakashi shut his right eye and mulled over what Naruto had told him. _'I'll ask him about that other vision later, but this is proof to me that Zabuza and that hunter will attack us at some point. I'll have to train them so they can handle themselves a little better.'_

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"If Zabuza is still alive, he probably won't be able to move freely for about a week," the jounin said. "A false-death state like that would leave his body severely weakened for some time, so I'd say we have a week, possibly five days at the least, before he's well enough to move again.

"During the next week, I'm going to train the three of you so you'll be better-equipped to fight someone like Zabuza."

* * *

_Several days later…_

A young boy walked through the dense forest. The sun had just risen so it was the best time for him to gather the supplies he needed. The herbs he would be gathering today would guarantee that Zabuza-sama would be ready to fight within a day's time.

Despite his gender, the boy wore a feminine kimono. His face and hair already made most people believe he was a girl, so dressing the part helped to fool his enemies. It wasn't something he had picked up from Zabuza-sama. He had just grown this way, so he played the part in order to gain some small advantage whenever possible.

When on the run from hunters from the Hidden Mist, you took any advantage you could get.

Truth be told, Haku was not in the best of moods today. That loathsome Gatou had come by a few days ago after hearing of Zabuza-sama's defeat at the hands of the Konoha shinobi. He threatened them, but Haku had stepped in to stop his bodyguards from touching Zabuza-sama. Not that they would had lived if they had reached him.

This entire ordeal with Gatou was beginning to wear on his nerves. Haku tried to be the emotionless tool that Zabuza-sama required, but it was a difficult task.

Suddenly a small bird perched itself on his shoulder. Haku paused in his herb gathering to smile at the small bird, but something else in the clearing ahead caught his attention. As the bird flew away, Haku moved forward to inspect the person he could see lying in the middle of the forest.

It was a young boy, not much younger than he. The boy was wearing an orange jumpsuit and on his forehead Haku could see… the headband symbol of the Leaf Village.

'_This one must be with Kakashi's group…'_

At the boy's side, Haku could see a strange red sword.

'_Of course, this is the one that broke Zabuza-sama's prison technique.'_

The boy had displayed impressive skill in dispatching Zabuza-sama's water clones and freeing the Copy Ninja from the water prison. Haku idly wondered how much of the boy's skill depended on that strange-looking blade. He could remember the odd sensation he got when the boy had first brandished that weapon.

Haku cautiously approached the boy. He probably would not recognize Haku as an enemy even if he woke up, but Haku knew better than to expect everything to turn his way.

Slowly Haku reached down to grab the boy. His instinct told him to strangle the boy where he lay, but both the boy and his sword were unpredictable, to say the least. The blade once more caught his eye, and Haku's hand moved unconsciously toward it.

In an instant the blade was poised at his neck, and Haku could see the Leaf ninja glaring at him. The moment passed in tense silence before he moved the blade away.

"Sorry about that," he muttered before picking himself up from the forest floor.

"It's quite alright," Haku assured. In truth, he had been quite shocked by the boy's speed. He knew the boy had power, but being fast enough to surprise him was rare.

The boy seemed rather embarrassed by his mistake. He had flushed red and was fidgeting on his feet and looking away.

"What are you doing out here so early?" he asked.

"I'm gathering medicinal herbs. A friend of mine was recently injured and these herbs will help them recover quicker." Haku eyed the young boy. "What were you doing out here?"

"I was training!" he replied.

"Training? You must be a great shinobi then. What are you training for?"

The boy flushed once more at the compliment. "Because I want to become stronger!" He flashed a winning smile.

"But you already look very strong to me."

"No, I need to be even stronger!"

Haku paused. "Why is that?"

The boy stared at Haku. It unnerved him that this boy could change from that carefree attitude so quickly. "Do you have something that you want to protect no matter what?"

Haku flinched momentarily. "Yes, I do."

The young boy nodded his head. "Then you understand why I want to be stronger."

Haku understood that all too well. "I believe," he began, "that when a person has something they want to protect at all costs, then they can become truly strong."

A strange look passed the boy's face and Haku could swear that he saw his eyes glow blue for a split second.

Suddenly the boy backed away. He took off without warning, but Haku could barely see a look of fear as the blond escaped.

Naruto ran as fast as he could toward Tazuna's house. He had never been this scared in his entire life. Even in that moment when Zabuza had shown up, Naruto hadn't felt this bad.

Against his better judgment, Naruto spared a glance behind him to check if the boy was following him. He couldn't see anything behind him so he turned back around only to see the boy he had just ran way from closing in from ahead of him.

Naruto quickly brandished the Monado and activated the blade. The boy stopped short several branches away. Naruto tried to calm his heavy breathing, but staring into the other boy's eyes just made him remember the vision he'd just seen in that clearing.

It was the same vision as before, except this time the hunter wasn't wearing a mask.

* * *

_End Chapter 5_

_I don't actually have much to say this time. Just hope you guys are excited for the end of the Wave arc next chapter!_


	6. The Future didn't change?

Sakura let out a yawn as she walked into the main dining area of Tazuna's house. They had been here almost a week now. When she looked around at everyone eating their breakfast so peacefully, it was difficult to imagine that they had come so close to death just a few days ago.

Sakura had been particularly worried about Naruto after the encounter with the missing-nin Zabuza Momochi. She had expected Sasuke to step up and save Kakashi-sensei, but Naruto had used that strange sword of his to take out the water clone.

The massive attack he had used to free their sensei from the prison had shocked everyone there, but Sakura just plain couldn't comprehend it.

Naruto had always been a slacker, a prankster, someone that didn't really deserve any attention even though he seemed to crave it. His academy grades were easily the lowest of the class, even lower than the likes of the lazy-ass Shikamaru or the delinquent Kiba. Even during practical sessions, Naruto wasn't able to keep up with most of the class in taijutsu. His projectile accuracy was probably the worst she had ever seen as well. On top of that, he couldn't even seem to use the most basic bunshin no jutsu.

All in all, Naruto shouldn't have been able to graduate from the academy. In fact, Sakura was sure Naruto had failed the final test, but he'd shown up the next day regardless and been assigned to her team. There were rumors that their sensei Mizuki had attempted to use Naruto to steal a scroll from the Hokage's tower but Naruto had defeated the chuunin.

Sakura didn't believe it for a moment. Mizuki may have been a traitor, but there was just no way someone like Naruto could beat Mizuki. It just wasn't possible for a genin unless it was someone like Sasuke

Now Sasuke; here was a boy who could fulfill all of her hopes and dreams… and she greatly hoped the boy would fulfill some of her dreams.

Sasuke was mysterious and cool. He was top of the class in every category. He'd made Rookie of the Year seem like an understatement. It was no wonder every girl in the academy fawned over the boy.

It came as no surprise when Sasuke had easily taken care of the Mist ninjas that had come after the bridge-builder. What she hadn't counted on was Naruto being just as impressive. She was sure that strange weapon had a lot to do with it, but she couldn't help but give Naruto credit for how he handled the Demon Brothers.

And then the fight with Zabuza. She had been all set to grab Tazuna and run when Naruto did the impossible. His attack had freed Kakashi from what would have otherwise been certain death. And just as Kakashi and Zabuza had resumed their battle, Naruto fell over unconscious.

Worried about her teammate for a reason she couldn't quite place, Sakura had retrieved Naruto from the battle field. After Zabuza had been defeated and subsequently killed (though they now knew better) they had a rough time continuing the way to Tazuna's home. Naruto was out cold and their sensei couldn't move his body. Kakashi was easily the heavier of the two so Sasuke carried him while Sakura begrudgingly (and with no small amount of difficulty) took care of Naruto.

Once or twice, Sakura thought Naruto had whispered something, but the boy's face never changed, so she chalked it up to her nerves. She still wasn't feeling great after that encounter.

Both Kakashi and Naruto had slept all night long after reaching the bridge-builder's home. Sakura had elected to watch Naruto in case he woke up, so Sasuke kept an eye on Kakashi-sensei.

Throughout that night, Sakura watched her blond teammate sleep with a tiny bit of wonder. The boy had surprised her, plain and simple. There was no doubt in her mind that her heart still belonged to Sasuke, but after what she had seen today she decided to take it easier on Naruto from now on.

Sakura awoke that morning to find Sasuke looking down at her. She jumped up and he explained that he could take watch for a while. Sakura had nodded and went to see about some food. It had been almost a day since they'd eaten.

Crossing through the living room, Sakura noticed Kakashi sleeping very peacefully. It was the first time she had seen the silver-haired man with his guard down.

'_This is something Naruto would do,'_ she'd chided herself as attempted to peek under the man's mask.

She let out a rather embarrassing yelp as the man's visible eye shot open. Her hand had been millimeters away from pulling the mask down, and she shot backwards away from him.

When she saw Naruto awake, she'd felt relief. She had brought some water for Sasuke since she didn't know if he'd had anything to eat or drink, but Naruto had been unconscious so she gave it over to him instead. Seeing the boy up and about loosened a knot in her stomach she hadn't even known she had.

And then Naruto had apparently seen a vision of the future. Their sensei agreed that Zabuza was probably still alive, but Sakura just couldn't accept that Naruto of all people could see the future. Shinobi could do many things that didn't make sense to civilians, but even seeing a future was preposterous as far as she was concerned.

Sakura had kept a close eye on the blond during their training the next few days. Climbing trees with chakra proved easy for her, but the boys had quite a bit more difficulty with the task. Sasuke did slightly better than Naruto, but that didn't seem to cheer the boy up. If anything, Sasuke was more annoyed by how closely Naruto stayed with him.

The pinkette finally stifled her yawn and looked around the dining area. The blond that occupied her thoughts was nowhere to be found.

"Naruto still out on his own?" she asked blearily.

"Seems like it," Kakashi replied.

"He's been out there for two days straight now," the girl pointed out. "He may have used up all his chakra and died by now."

"I hope he's alright," Tsunami added. "A child all lone in the woods like that…"

"Don't worry!" Kakashi said. Sakura could tell from the way his visible eye was curved that he was smiling beneath his mask. "He might not look it, but he's a true ninja."

That seemed to calm Tsunami's nerves, but Sasuke spoke up, "I don't know. It wouldn't surprise me if that moron was dead from using too much chakra…"

* * *

Naruto could feel the sweat on his palms as he gripped the Monado's handle. He didn't dare loosen his grip for fear of an attack.

Haku stared at the young boy. There was no trace of the kindhearted person that had been gathering herbs no less than five minutes ago. Instead all Naruto could see was an image of the boy that had protected Zabuza from Kakashi's attack in his vision. He could remember the color draining from the boy's face even as Zabuza reared his sword back to slice through him to get Kakashi.

He'd run without saying a word. He hoped the false hunter would let him go, but it seemed that had been too much to ask for. The hunter had appeared in front of him, blocking the way to Tazuna's home. Naruto only hoped the boy didn't continue in that direction to attack the people there. Kakashi-sensei was still resting, and the others would be unprepared for an attack.

The fake hunter looked on as Naruto seemed to tremble in fear. "What is wrong?" he called. Naruto nearly vomited. He was using the same innocent voice as before, as if pretending to be a civilian meant anything when he had just caught up with Naruto running full speed through a dense forest.

"I know," Naruto answered. "You're helping Zabuza."

Haku's eyebrows shot up. "What gave me away?"

Naruto didn't answer. Once more the image of Kakashi's hand stuck in the boy's chest flashed through his mind.

"I suppose it doesn't really matter," Haku said. _'I didn't bring that many senbon with me,'_ he realized, _'but this boy shouldn't give me much trouble regardless. Even with that sword, he can't keep up with my speed.'_

The false hunter disappeared from view and a vision of his attack came to Naruto at the same time as the actual attack hit. Naruto barely had time to register the pain from the knee in his stomach before he had been launched backward into the forest.

The blond groaned as he picked himself up. _'What the hell was that?'_ he yelled to himself. _'The vision was too slow!'_ He counted himself lucky that he hadn't been knocked right into a tree.

Once more a vision came to him, but he had no chance to move before the hunter's backhand knocked him to the side. Naruto barely managed to keep his grip on the Monado.

'_This guy's too fast! Even if I see his attack I can't react to it in time!'_

Naruto brought the Monado up just in time to block another punch, but the force still pushed him back. He couldn't even take a second to activate the blade, let alone dodge or counterattack.

'_This is bad!'_

He couldn't block the next hit, which once more knocked him away. Naruto was still amazed that he hadn't been knocked into any trees or branches yet. He was just getting knocked around the ground.

The hunter appeared in front of him again, poised to kick his side. For an instant, Naruto could see a pained expression on the boy's face, but he was knocked away again before he could see more.

Haku stopped as he watched the boy tumble away again. The boy certainly couldn't match his speed. He'd only been able to block one attack so far and the rest had hit cleanly. Haku knew that he had the upper hand here. There was no way the blond could win.

'_So why can't I finish him?'_

* * *

"Where are you going, Sasuke-kun?"

The Uchiha stopped and looked behind. Sakura was standing in the doorway. She looked concerned, though he couldn't tell about what.

"I'm… going to train more." He turned around and stepped down from the porch.

"You're going to look for Naruto, aren't you?"

Once more the Uchiha stopped.

"I'm worried about him, too."

He looked back once more to see Sakura blushing slightly and unable to meet his eyes. "He's an idiot and he's annoying, but he saved us all from that Zabuza," she explained. "And he's been out there for two days now with no food."

Sasuke nodded. "And there's that ninja disguised as a hunter, as well."

Sakura gasped. "You don't think they found him, do you?"

"I don't know, but it's strange for Naruto to not come back at all for two days straight. Not to mention the way he passed out after that attack the other day."

"I hope he's okay," Sakura whispered.

"I'm going to find him so we can get back to training."

"Sasuke…kun…" Sakura reached out, but he was already walking away.

* * *

Naruto blocked another attack with the Monado's side and pushed himself away only to get blindsided by a kick to his back.

"Gah!"

He felt his breath leave his body as the hunter planted a knee into his stomach again. At long last, his grip on the Monado faded and the sword fell to the dirt. He fell after it, clutching his stomach in agony.

However, Haku didn't seem to be any happier that his prey was lying prone in front of him.

'_What is it that holds me back?'_ he shouted in his mind. _'I've destroyed my own emotions for Zabuza-sama's sake hundreds of times, but this boy eludes me.'_

He glanced at the sword lying at his feet. _'This blade… it is the reason this boy could fight evenly with Zabuza-sama's water clone.'_ Haku bent down, reaching for the blade.

"N-no…"

Haku stopped and stared at the boy once more. He was wincing in pain, still clutching his stomach, but his other hand was reaching out, trying to grab the sword that was just out of his reach.

Haku sighed, steeling himself for what he needed to do. A senbon slid from the kimono sleeve into his hand. "I am sorry for dragging this out so much," he said coolly. "I found it difficult to kill my emotions, but now you must die. For Zabuza-sama's goal, you must die."

Naruto's hand reached for the Monado once more as the hunter's senbon raced toward his neck.

The sound of metal flying through the air stopped Haku's attack just short of piercing his target. He jumped away just as a set of kunai tore through where he had been standing.

"Who is there?" he called out.

No one answered.

Another barrage of kunai flew from the trees and he jumped away once more. The knives were flying from dozens of directions at once, converging at one location, so he couldn't tell where the new enemy was hiding. He jumped back once more, but his heightened senses told him to move again and he narrowly avoided a slash that would have torn his back open. Even then, he suffered a shallow cut on his shoulder. It wouldn't bother him, but it would need to be treated sooner rather than later.

Haku's eyes widened as he saw the blond holding the Monado, blade active, after his desperate attack. _'I was too distracted. I got careless,'_ he admitted. _'With another enemy in the trees somewhere that I can't even follow… I'd better return to Zabuza-sama for now.'_

Haku disappeared in a blur once more. Naruto tried to raise the Monado up in case he needed to block an oncoming attack, but his hands lost their grip and he starting falling to the earth again. Sasuke appeared and caught his teammate before he could hit the dirt.

'_He's hurt badly,'_ Sasuke realized. _'I'd better get him back right away. That hunter seems to have run off after that last attack.'_

* * *

_Chapter 6 End_

_I know I said this arc would be wrapped up during this chapter, but the fight scene took up more time than I expected. In lieu of that, and the somewhat short chapter, I'm going to post this up a week early, and make the next chapter the full conclusion of the Wave Arc. Hope you guys don't mind._

_Also, I'll be taking a little break from this story once this arc ends. I'm gonna be working with a friend on another story, but I also plan to start writing a little prequel to Boundless detailing the events between the end of Xenoblade Chronicles and the start of this story. Hope you guys look forward to that._


	7. Red

All of them breathed a collective sigh of relief when Kakashi reported that Naruto's injuries were not as severe as they had first seemed. Even Sasuke seemed glad that his teammate would be okay. The jounin wondered if Naruto's show of power against Zabuza, combined with his determination in their joint training, had convinced Sasuke that the blond was more than just the academy's dead last.

Still, Kakashi was worried. Sasuke had guessed that Naruto had been attacked by Zabuza's fake hunter-nin, but the young boy hadn't woken up to confirm that theory. Although that was the most likely explanation, Kakashi couldn't help worry that Zabuza himself had already recovered and attacked his charge.

The copy ninja shook his head to clear his thoughts. That didn't seem right either. While Naruto's injuries were numerous, very few of them seemed life threatening. Kakashi also noticed that all of the injuries had come from blunt force rather than a sharp edge. No, Zabuza hasn't been the one behind this.

Still, he wondered why they had attacked Naruto. Surely blowing their cover would be detrimental to a surprise attack, albeit one that Kakashi already knew would be coming soon. He couldn't piece together the motives behind this attack. He felt like he was missing a single piece of crucial information that was just out of his reach.

The other thing that confused him was the extent of the blond's injuries. If the hunter had come after Naruto on his own, surely a quick and easy kill would be smarter than dragging the fight out long enough for reinforcements to arrive. From what Sasuke had told him, the hunter had been going in for the kill when the boy intervened. But why had they waited so long to go for that kill? Naruto had a great number of injuries, indicating that the fight had been going on for some time before Sasuke's rescue.

So why did the hunter not kill Naruto outright?

The more he thought about it, the more Kakashi was beginning to think this attack had somehow been unplanned. He couldn't piece it together, but he suspected Naruto may have recognized the hunter from one of his visions.

The Monado…

It was truly a strange weapon. Kakashi had expected Naruto to be a handful in many ways. He'd never thought that one of his students would be able to see directly into the future. The Sharingan gave a small sample of the future based on an opponent's movements in battle, but it seemed like the Monado could show Naruto events that would transpire up to a week in advance.

The Hokage would surely be amazed at this information. He'd have to be careful how he presented his report once the mission was over.

The jounin looked up as they approached the bridge. A dense mist was starting to impair their vision, but Kakashi could see the outline of two figures standing across from them.

'…_if we actually make it back to Konoha, that is.'_

* * *

Once more Sakura watched her blond teammate as he slept. The past week had given her a much-needed look into the kind of person Naruto truly was. Gone was the obnoxious prankster that had constantly asked her out in the academy. Now her teammate had shown a side of himself that no one knew of.

Sure, Naruto was still loud and he still enjoyed an occasional prank or two, but there was a serious side to the boy that hadn't been there before. The difference that just a few weeks had made in the boy amazed her.

His determination during the chakra climbing training had also left an impression on her. Despite the boy's frankly abysmal chakra control, he never gave up at the task. She had made it up the tree in short order, but Sasuke was doing only slightly better than their blond friend.

Friend?

It seemed weird at first to refer to Naruto as a friend rather than just another teammate, but she quickly realized that it was true. He relieved much of the tension that would exist in the group without his presence. His brash attitude clashed with Sasuke's and had begun to draw the Uchiha out of his isolated shell. Sakura was pleased to discover that her crush was becoming more talkative.

Naruto's personality was contagious. Even the somewhat stoic Kakashi found the boy entertaining. His refreshing take on life had lifted their spirits over the past week, despite the gloomy nature of the Land of Waves.

Contrary to Naruto's upbeat and happy person, Tsunami's son, Inari, seemed to embody the gloomy atmosphere that his home country had fallen into. Nearly every night that week, the boy had questioned loudly why they remained in the country. Fed up with the brat, Naruto had finally yelled back at the child, which seemed to have shut him up until he ran out of the house in tears.

Naruto had muttered something about training shortly after and stalked off on his own. Sasuke had found him nearly beaten to death the next morning.

Her breath had hitched when Sasuke returned with the unconscious Naruto. Seeing him in such a state was not something she was prepared for, especially not that early in the morning.

Since she had already completed the chakra climbing exercise, Kakashi asked her to stay with Naruto while he recovered. Sasuke would continue his training while the jounin himself stayed with Tazuna-san on the bridge.

The pinkette had given no protest and obediently stayed with her… friend.

And so she watched him throughout the day. He never stirred from his bed. His eyes never fluttered open. He never groaned in hunger like she kept expecting him to. On the other hand, his breathing remained calm all throughout the day.

She would never admit it, but she had spent the entire day watching him sleep. Her mind raced with thoughts and questions. Sasuke was certainly still the better of the two, but maybe having Naruto on their team wouldn't be so bad.

The next day began in a much less interesting fashion. Kakashi and Sasuke had taken shifts watching Naruto throughout the night, but the boy never awoke. Kakashi seemed preoccupied with something at breakfast and Sakura couldn't blame him once he explained that it had been a week since Zabuza's attack and he would likely be fully recovered by now. That meant there was a good chance of an attack today.

Going on this chance, Kakashi once again asked Sakura to stay with Naruto. He and Sasuke would go to the bridge with Tazuna to make sure their client remained safe. Sakura was a bit nervous being left alone to guard the home, but Kakashi waved her off. "Even as a genin you should be able to handle any thugs that might come by here," he had said. "I believe in you, Sakura." The nod of confidence she'd received from Sasuke after that bolstered her spirits even more.

The home was comfortably quiet once the group left for the bridge. Tsunami was washing dishes in the kitchen and Inari seemed to be in the bathroom.

Unlike yesterday, Sakura didn't really feel like staring at her teammate all day long. Feeling rather bored, she decided to go grab a book from her room. She had packed some light reading material, a romance story that Kakashi had suggested for her. She had wondered what was in those orange books the strange man always read and she wanted to find out for herself.

The book fell to the floor as she walked back into the room to find Naruto sitting up in the bed. His expression was difficult to read, but it was obvious that something was bothering him.

"Sakura-chan," he said. His voice was dry; not surprising considering he had been unconscious for over almost two days. "I just had a vision. Two of Gatou's thugs are coming here to kidnap Tsunami-san." The girl gasped lightly. "I don't know when they're supposed to be here, but it felt like it would happen soon. Check the windows, but keep yourself hidden as much as possible."

Sakura nodded and left to check the room across the hall. Not for the first time, Sakura found herself surprised and impressed by this serious side of Naruto. While she still didn't fully believe in his 'visions of the future' the grave expression on his face told her that she should at least check this out.

Her eyes peeked over the edge of the window and she gasped once more when she saw two imposing figures moving toward the house. He hissed back to her teammate, "Naruto, they're over here!"

She waited for a reply but never received one.

* * *

Naruto moved as quietly as possible as he jumped from the window. Sakura had pointed them out, but he planned to take them by surprise. If this went properly, Tsunami and Inari wouldn't even know the thugs had been here.

He crept around the house. When the thugs came into view he moved faster to appear behind them. One of the thugs had his sword raised to cut through the wall. Just as he moved to unsheathe the blade, Naruto positioned the Monado in front of their throats. Both men froze immediately.

"Gatou sent you." It wasn't a question.

The one of the left answered. "He told us this place would be unguarded. You should all be at the bridge!"

"Then the bridge is being attacked, too," he realized.

"You really think you can stop us, punk?" the other thug asked. "You're just a kid!"

"I'm not just any kid. I'm a ninja!"

Both thugs turned to slice through him, but the Monado flashed and their sword clattered to the wood flooring. He had sliced through so their blades were no longer connected to the hilt. One of the thugs reached inside his coat for a knife only to drop the weapon when he felt a powerful kick to the back of his head.

Both thugs fell to the floor as two more Narutos landed behind them. He deactivated the Monado and looked upward. "Sakura-chan, the bridge is in danger! Can you take care of these guys?"

She nodded nervously and jumped down. She noticed he seemed uncomfortable now that she was down there with him. "Sakura-chan…" he muttered. "There's something else."

"Hm?"

"In my vision a few days ago," he began, "I saw Sasuke being attacked on the bridge. I said that he broke through that dome of mirrors on his own."

Sakura now echoed the worried expression on the boy's face. "That's not what I saw, though." Sad eyes looked up at her. "I didn't want to tell Sasuke that I saw him die in that dome."

Her breath hitched in her throat. Surely he was just joking, right? It was just another one of Naruto's stupid pranks.

The sadness in the boy's face told her that he was being completely serious.

"I'll stop it from happening."

"What?" Suddenly his face was determined. The sadness had disappeared in an instant.

"I've changed the future that happens in my visions before," he said. "I can change this one. I will save him." He turned to leave without waiting for a reply.

Sakura watched his back for a moment. "Naruto!"

He turned back to look at her. She struggled with the words for a moment, trying to find what she actually wanted to say. Finally she looked him in the eye. "Be careful."

"Of course!" Naruto noticed something moving in the window connected to the bathroom. Inari was listening. "I'm the hero! Nothing can go wrong!"

* * *

Sasuke fell back as countless attacks rained over his body. _'This guy's speed is unreal! I can't even tell where these attacks are coming from!'_

Makyou Hyoushou. Demonic Ice Mirrors. It was truly a fearsome technique. Twenty-one mirrors made of ice that reflected his target, the boy named Haku. He'd been able to match Haku's speed before, but the mirrors seemed to increase his speed to insane levels.

Idly, Sasuke realized that this must have been the 'dome of mirrors' that Naruto had mentioned seeing in his vision before. If what he had seen in the vision came true, Naruto would get caught inside the dome as well, but Sasuke would break them out somehow. He pushed down a fleeting hope of miraculously unlocking his Sharingan during the fight. Now was not the time to worry about that.

* * *

As far as Kakashi could tell, things were going very wrong. Sasuke was stuck fighting Zabuza's ally inside that dome and he was caught protecting Tazuna from the Demon of the Mist himself. Sakura was back at the bridge-builder's home watching Naruto, so Kakashi couldn't move to protect the Uchiha heir even if he wanted to.

Something spiked in Kakashi's senses and he turned to find a copy of Zabuza standing behind their client. "Tazuna-san!" The bridge-builder turned and tried to duck, but he was much too slow.

A blast of smoke covered a great part of the bridge. Even the sounds of combat from the dome behind him quieted down for a moment. He could barely hear the grinding of metal against metal and Kakashi suddenly turned back to slice through Zabuza's chest, only for the water clone in front of him to dissolve.

Thinking quickly, Kakashi tossed a brace of kunai and shuriken towards the dome before turning back to deal with Zabuza. The smoke was just beginning to clear, but he still couldn't see what had happened to-

"Sorry, Tazuna-san, but I'm gonna need you to back up a few steps here. He's starting to push me back."

The smoke finally cleared away and Kakashi could see the man numbly stepping backward and the sight of Zabuza and Naruto interlocking their blades came into few. Naruto slid his foot back in an attempt to find a better grip on the water-covered concrete, but Zabuza seized the opportunity and cut right through the boy.

The Monado clattered to the ground as the shadow clone dispersed. Zabuza grunted in disappointment as Kakashi placed himself between the bridge-builder and the Demon once more.

"You know, Zabuza, it's really bad luck that you both ended up facing off with my 'brats,' as you call them," Kakashi said. "Sasuke is the Leaf's Rookie of the Year. Sakura is the brightest kunoichi in her year." Kakashi peered down at the Monado between them. "And the other one is the show-off, hyperactive, #1 knucklehead loudest ninja in the village."

Once more, something clicked on the edge of Kakashi's senses and he rushed forward. Zabuza had been eyeing the Monado sitting between them, but Kakashi's sudden rush had dispelled any thoughts of taking the weapon for now.

Behind him, an orange-clad figure appeared on the bridge and retrieved his weapon before running towards the dome of mirrors, where the sounds of combat had resumed.

"Your brats are dead, Kakashi," Zabuza grumbled.

The copy ninja strained his kunai against Zabuza's massive blade. Keeping an eye of their client, he replied, "We'll just have to see, won't we?"

* * *

Sasuke flinched and closed his eyes as the next wave of attacks came for him. There was little else he could do at the moment. His eyes shot open when he heard the sound of metal striking metal and he saw Naruto holding the Monado out to block a number of the senbon needles.

"You…" Haku muttered. "How is it that you are recovered so quickly?"

Naruto grimaced and tightened his grip on the Monado. "I always heal fast," he explained.

"Naruto, what are you thinking?" Sasuke suddenly shouted. "It would've been better if you stayed outside! A combination attack from both sides would-"

"-would have been useless." Sasuke blinked. "I saw Kakashi-sensei's attack earlier. This guy blocked every one of his kunai and shuriken without missing a beat. Without a super powerful long-range attack like your fireball, attacking from outside would be useless." Naruto shifted the Monado into an attacking position and activated the blade. "Our best bet is taking this guy out from the inside!"

Haku stared at the two boys from all twenty-one mirrors. "I do not truly wish to kill you two." The Haku directly in front of them stared at Naruto. "However, for the dreams of my precious person, I must."

A rain of steel appeared and tore through both boys. Naruto was able to divert some of the needles aiming for them, but they still took the brunt of the attack. The needles stopped and Naruto's examined himself.

'_This guy has the upper hand right now,'_ he mused, _'so why did he only aim for scratches? If he really wanted to, he could have aimed for our necks or even just to get the needles stuck in our bodies.'_

"Hey Sasuke, this attack is super fast," he whispered. The dark-haired boy nodded. "There's no way we can follow it, so we need to find some way to block it, right?"

Sasuke couldn't fault the boy's logic, but he also didn't see a way of blocking the needles from reaching them. Then the Monado's blade glowed orange.

"Monado Bunshin!"

"No, idiot!"

Dozens of Naruto clones appeared around them, filling almost the entire space of the dome. Nothing moved for a moment and the only sound came from a few of the clones groaning from being pushed against the mirrors.

"Hey boss! This mirror is blank!"

"This one, too!"

"So's this one!"

"The mirrors are blank now?" Sasuke muttered. He wasn't exactly comfortable being surrounded by dozens of his teammate's copies, but they had revealed part of their enemy's ability. "The images in the mirrors aren't clones, they're-"

A loud noise erupted along with the clones all disappearing at once. When the smoke from the clones had dispersed, Naruto and Sasuke could once more see all of the mirrors filled with Haku's image. However, even through the mask Sasuke could tell that the boy seemed somewhat winded and… concerned.

"He's moving from mirror to mirror at-"

Another rain of steel cut off Sasuke's words.

When the needles stopped, Naruto looked around. None of the needles had aimed for him. Haku has tried to silence Sasuke by killing him outright. When he looked over at his teammate, Naruto was shocked to find him with no further injuries than before.

Sasuke was frowning at the Haku image in front of them, but Naruto could see a hint of red in the boy's eyes.

"You move well," Haku admitted. "To unlock such an ability in the middle of combat, you are certainly impressive." Sasuke flinched, itching to check his eyes. "I cannot fight like this much longer. My jutsu uses a lot of chakra; there is a limit to how long I can keep up this speed."

Haku shifted his gaze to the other boy. Neither of them were hindered as much as Haku would have liked, but this needed to end soon. With no warning, Haku jumped from that mirror towards Naruto, who seemed to not see it coming.

'What? At Naruto?' Sasuke tracked Haku's movements. 'Not good!' Sasuke jumped forward.

Naruto gasped as both Haku and Sasuke stopped moving in his vision for a split second. 'This must be… no! I have to stop it!'

Another voice erupted through Naruto's head. "You know what to do."

"MONADO SHIELD!"

Sasuke stopped short, only to watch a yellow layer of energy envelop himself and his teammate. Haku's attack, powerful as it was, failed to pierce through the shield. Sasuke idly wondered if the boy's eyes were bulging behind that mask.

The yellow paling faltered for a moment before disappearing completely. The Monado's blade disappeared as well and Naruto fell to the concrete.

Sasuke's red eyes looked up at Haku. '_This is bad,'_ he realized. _'Even with the Sharingan, I'm no match against him with all of these mirrors!'_

A surge of red filled his vision and Sasuke had to close his eyes to avoid being blinded. Something in his head clicked and he knew the Sharingan had deactivated now, so he opened his eyes and gaped at what he saw before him.

Hunched down on all fours was Naruto, but the cut and scrapes from the battle seemed to be healing quickly. The boy's hair also seemed wilder than before; it stuck out at odd angles and looked like it hadn't been combed in days.

Lastly, Sasuke finally noticed his teammate's face. Naruto's eyes were red, not the same red that accompanied the Sharingan however. These eyes had more of a purple hue, but he could feel the pure malice deep within. Underneath his eyes, the whisker marks that had always adorned the blond's face were now much more pronounced, like someone had drawn over with a marker.

Altogether, the boy's appearance sent several shivers down Sasuke's body. The adrenaline that had been waning from the pause in combat was now coming back full force. Something in Sasuke's mind told him to run away, but he just stared at Naruto.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Naruto picked himself up onto two feet. His right hand held the Monado, which was activated and sported a brilliant red blade. Sasuke also noticed the blade seemed much stronger than before, as if the power source had suddenly doubled or tripled in that instant.

The biggest shock of all came when Sasuke noticed the symbol on the blade's hilt.

九尾

'_Kyuubi...!'_

* * *

_Chapter 7 End_

_Once again, this was meant to finish off the Wave arc, but after the delay in updating combined with what I think is a great chapter finisher, I decided to end things here. Next week will definitely, 100% absolutely finish off the Land of Waves and if it doesn't I'm going to hit myself with a pen._

_The part with Monado Shield was another one of those scenes that I had planned basically from the start of this story's concept. I knew I wanted Naruto to steadily gain some of the Monado's power, and this was an ideal spot to learn Shield._

_Events transpire a little differently so that Haku does not reveal his secret about the mirrors freely. He is much more cautious, especially since as far as he knows, Naruto should have been injured for a lot longer than a day. This is why Sasuke makes a big deal here out of telling Naruto about the mirrors._


	8. Your Future is Death

Naruto's eyes shot open and he once again saw the damp sewer-like area that normally housed the Kyuubi's seal. He was shocked (and very concerned) to find the space behind the large cage bars empty.

"Alvis!" he called out. "Alvis, what's going on?!"

"Naruto," the man replied as he materialized. Naruto could tell he seemed much less flippant than their previous meeting.

"Let me guess; using the Monado's power drained my chakra again?"

"Correct," Alvis responded, "but this time, the Kyuubi was able to take hold of your consciousness when you passed out."

"WHAT?!"

"I do not believe the fox intends to harm your comrade," Alvis explained quickly. "I think he merely wanted to stretch his legs a bit."

"'Stretch his legs?'" the boy echoed.

"Yes. It is rather cramped down here. I would wager that the fox has been aching for a bit of free time after being locked in here for twelve years."

"Serves it right," Naruto chided. "He attacked the village and forced the Fourth Hokage to sacrifice himself just so he could seal it away!"

Alvis shook his head with a small smile. "The Nine-Tailed Fox may be a beast of pure destruction, but despite what history texts may say it never attacks without provocation, Naruto."

The blond paused at this. "What are you saying?"

"I fear our time has already run out," Alvis lamented. "Time does seem to work differently inside your mind, so it is somewhat difficult to keep track."

* * *

"This chakra, it can't be!"

Kakashi paused. Even though he had been rather young when the Nine-Tailed Fox had attacked the village, he clearly remembered how the foul creature's chakra had felt. It had permeated the air for miles so that even those nowhere near the fox could sense its demonic power.

What he felt now was similar but much more contained. It did not saturate the air as it had twelve years ago, but Kakashi felt his body slow down as if it feared the evil chakra of its own will.

"Could the seal have been broken?"

Kakashi pushed his senses to see past the cloud of mist. He could barely detect three signatures in the direction of Haku's dome. It was difficult to read anything beyond the Fox's chakra, but he could definitely tell that both his and Zabuza's comrades were alive.

Kakashi refocused on the mist around him. He still stood in front of Tazuna, protecting the man from the Demon of the Hidden Mist. His reflexes were being tested. The mist prevented the Sharingan from working to its full potential, and Zabuza wasn't known as a master of silent killing for no reason.

Still, Kakashi had been quite obviously distracted by the surge of chakra and Zabuza had made no attempt on Tazuna then. Kakashi surmised that Zabuza was just as shocked as he had been, if not moreso.

'_Time to turn things around then!'_

* * *

Sasuke stood frozen still as he looked at his possessed teammate. Red chakra filled the air around them. He vaguely noticed the ice mirrors surrounding them beginning to melt. His attention moved to Haku, who seemed to be just as surprised by this turn of events.

Naruto had certainly shown off an impressive power by using the Monado to shield Haku's attack, but this was something different entirely. None of the Monado's previous powers (that Sasuke had seen) had altered Naruto's physical appearance.

No, this seemed like something wholly unrelated. The symbol on the blade read "Kyuubi" and the boy's features had changed to very much resemble the images that Sasuke had seen of the terrifying beast.

And then Naruto spoke.

"Ah, it feels good to be out of there for once."

It was as if Naruto was speaking along with another voice. Two voices left Naruto's mouth; one certainly belonged to the teammate he knew, but the other held what he could only describe as evil. Not evil in the way that Zabuza and Haku could be considered so, but evil in that it did not care. Whatever was to be destroyed by this beast's rampage was simply in the way, as if it had been asking to be destroyed.

Complete indifference coupled with a love of violent destruction. It was a horrifying combination of traits, and it shook Sasuke to his core that he could feel such things from a single voice.

Naruto's red, slitted eyes looked down at the blade in his hand. "Hmph," he grunted, "this thing has more power than I thought. That fool Alvis has been holding out."

'_Who is Alvis?'_ Sasuke immediately wondered.

Naruto's eyes met Sasuke's. "Stay out of this, _Uchiha_." He spoke the name like a curse. "I'd never hear the end of it from that brat if you got caught up in this."

In that instant, Sasuke suddenly realized that Naruto was not somehow channeling the fox's chakra. No, he had been completely taken over by the beast. Still, he had told him to stay back, presumably to avoid being injured, so Sasuke moved as close to the outer edge of the dome as he could.

Haku had finally regained his composure and was about to move when Naruto appeared in front of him in a blur of red motion. "Make it interesting for me." Naruto showed a malevolent grin complete with elongated canines that put Sasuke on edge.

Haku blurred into motion and Naruto relaxed into a casual stance. The fake hunter once again appeared in all of the mirrors around them. The boy's focus was entirely on Naruto. It was obvious that any distraction, even a moment of hesitation, would cost his life.

The rain of steel began with no preamble. The needles fired from all directions, seemingly at once, but when the deluge ended Naruto had not a single scratch on him. In fact, Sasuke noticed that most of the boy's previous injuries had vanished as well.

"How is it possible?" Haku asked through heavy breathes. "I did not see you move an inch and yet you dodged or blocked every single needle."

"Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't happen," Naruto explained as he grinned that malevolent grin once more. "Now then, I believe it's my turn."

Naruto disappeared.

There was no blur of motion. No displacement of dust on the ground or the air. No sign that any movement was made, and yet the boy was no longer standing there.

An instant later, all twenty-one mirrors shattered.

Sasuke's eyes were drawn to the glowing red blade of the Monado before he actually sensed his teammate's presence. Haku had been thrown away from what remained of the dome. The boy hit the concrete of the bridge hard before coming to rest against the side railing. The boy's mask had been obliterated, blood flowed freely from his head, and it was clear that his left arm had been broken.

The fight was over.

* * *

Bangs echoed through the streets. People knocked on every door they could reach, calling for the inhabitants to answer them.

"This isn't the time to sit by while Gatou takes everything away again! Now is the time to fight back!"

Sakura smiled at the man that appeared in the doorway. "What use is it to fight?" he asked. "Gatou will just execute us like he did Kaiza."

"Gatou's power lies in the fear of the people he reigns over," Sakura explained. "If you stand up to him, if we all stand up together, there's nothing he can do to stop us, to stop all of you."

The man gave a hesitant nod.

"How many is that, Inari-kun?" Sakura asked once she regrouped with the boy.

"Thirty-eight."

"How many more are there?"

"I think there's only ten or so villagers left that would be able to fight."

"It's not much, but the message is more important than the numbers at this point."

"Are you really sure that Naruto-san and the others will be okay until we get there?" Inari asked.

Sakura smiled down at the boy. "Weren't you listening? Nothing bad ever happens to the hero!"

* * *

The mist was beginning to clear away. Kakashi could clearly see Zabuza standing in front of him trapped by his summoned ninja dogs. With the man immobilized, Kakashi was free to charge his only original jutsu, the Raikiri.

"You are too dangerous," Kakashi said. "Tazuna-san is this country's courage. The bridge he is building is the country's hope. To try and destroy that is too much. That is not what a shinobi should do."

"I don't give a damn," Zabuza replied. "I fight for my own ideals, and so I shall continue!"

Kakashi paused momentarily. "I'll ask once more. Surrender."

He lowered himself into a running stance.

"Your future is death."

* * *

"How disappointing. That wasn't nearly as entertaining as I thought it would be. The brats must've actually tired you out before I got to you."

Naruto stalked forward with the Monado set casually on his shoulder. The blade still glowed red and gave off an unnerving aura that made Sasuke's hair stand on end.

"I suppose I'll have to take what I can get, though," Naruto grumbled as he stopped in front of the downed boy. "I doubt the brat will give me another chance to run around like this for some time."

He poised the blade to slice the boy's head off. A messy death unbefitting a shinobi.

"Naruto, stop!"

Sasuke would later wonder what had caused him to yell out at that moment. Pride as a shinobi? Pride as an Uchiha? Whatever it was, he cursed himself as the possessed Naruto turned to glare at him.

"The brat can't hear you right now, _Uchiha_," he growled. "And you will not keep me from this kill, not after the time I've waited."

Sasuke glared back. His entire being screamed for him to run away from the beast staring him down, but something made him stand up to it. "The fight is over," he explained calmly. "You've won. Anything beyond that would be humiliation."

"Anything beyond that is what counts!" the fox countered. "What's the point in fighting if no one ends up dead?"

"The point of fighting is to protect others from dying!"

Now Naruto laughed, relaxing the blade away from Haku. "Haha! You are sorely misguided about the way of this world, boy," he said. "Too young to understand it and yet you think you know everything."

"I know more than most!" Sasuke yelled. "I know firsthand that a person's entire life can be ripped away in an instant! That just means it's that much more important to protect what we have now!"

Naruto frowned and turned to face Sasuke. "Misguided and arrogant," he mumbled. "You think because of one little tragedy you understand everything about the world? Just because of that you know how everything works now?!"

"Naruto understands it even better than I do," he replied, calm once more. "And now I understand why. Whereas my life was torn away from me, Naruto never had one to begin with! From birth he had nothing, nothing at all. All because of you! The Nine-Tailed Fox!"

The fox growled. "You are trying my patience, brat. I said I would never hear the end of it if you got killed, but I'm not above obliterating you if you continue to irritate me so."

"You're just upset the world doesn't work the way you think it does anymore. Things have changed; you're just a remnant of the past now."

"_UCHIHAAAA!_"

The fox in Naruto's body rushed forward at the same instant that Sasuke reactivated his newly-awakened Sharingan. The Monado fell from Naruto's hand and skidded away as it deactivated.

Both boys fell unconscious to the cold concrete.

* * *

Alvis looked up at the newcomers.

"This is… most unexpected," he muttered.

Uchiha Sasuke stared at the strangely-dressed man for a moment before taking in his surroundings. The dimly lit sewer seemed very out of place since he had been on the incomplete bridge just a moment ago. He'd been arguing with Naruto who had been somehow possessed by the Nine-Tailed Fox of all things…

That was when Sasuke noticed the massive cage bars at one end of the room. How he hadn't noticed the swirling mass of chakra behind them before was a mystery.

"Sasuke? How the hell did you get here?"

The Uchiha heir turned and saw his teammate standing there, ankle-deep in the murky water. He looked entirely normal; all signs of the fox's possession had disappeared, but that still didn't explain where they were.

"Naruto, where are we?"

The blond flinched and cast a wary glance at the other man as if asking for assistance.

The silver-haired man cleared his throat. "You are no doubt aware that the creature behind those bars is the infamous Kyuubi no Kitsune, yes?" Sasuke cast a glance at the cage bars and noticed the beast behind them attempting to claw through even though no sound came from it. "I have separated us from where the fox can reach us, so do not pay it any mind, young Sasuke."

"Okay," the boy agreed. "But who are you? And once again, where are we?"

"You may call me Alvis. In simple terms, I am the spirit that inhabits the Monado."

Sasuke's eyes shot open at that. It surely explained why the sword had so much power. There were myths surrounding certain blades throughout the world that were said to be sentient. Most of them belonged to the former Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, but there were certainly others.

"As for where we are, this is a conjured representation of the seal which contains the Kyuubi inside Naruto's body."

While surprised by this information, it wasn't as much of a shock as Alvis's identity. The conversation on the bridge along with knowledge of Naruto's early life had given Sasuke enough to piece together the truth about the Kyuubi. Having it confirmed was still a bit of a blow to his addled mind, however.

Naruto seemed very nervous now. "Why did you just up and tell him like that, Alvis?"

The man shrugged with a small smile on his lips. "The Kyuubi had taken over your body just moments ago, and then when I thought you were about to wake up, the fox returns along with Sasuke here," he explained. "I would wager that Sasuke figured out about the fox's seal on his own."

"For the most part," the boy admitted.

Naruto still looked nervous, but seemed to accept Alvis's reasoning. "Okay, so back to my question," he said. "How exactly did they get here?"

"That I do not know," Alvis admitted. "To my knowledge no one should be able to enter this space of your mind from the outside."

"It must have something to do with my Sharingan," Sasuke offered, causing both parties to look at him. "I tried to use the Sharingan as Naruto, I mean the fox, rushed towards me. I've read rumors that Uchiha Madara could control the Nine-Tailed Fox with his Sharingan. I didn't really believe it, but trying was better than dying."

"So your Sharingan has projected an image of your mind into Naruto's in effort to calm the raging demon," Alvis muttered. "Certainly an unexpected occurrence, but not altogether unwanted."

"How do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Although I had expected you to wake up prior to their arrival, you have remained here," Alvis continued. "It is likely that without Sasuke's interference the fox would have maintained control over your body for some time."

"So is this something that I can do at any time?" Sasuke asked. He was rather curious just what his new Sharingan was capable of. "Just project myself into Naruto's mind like this?"

"No, I do not think so," Alvis answered. "Unfortunately, this was a rather specific circumstance. I would wager that the Kyuubi's involvement along with not being able to fully control your newly-awakened Sharingan led to these events."

Sasuke nodded and Naruto just looked on, rather confused by the discussion.

"I believe, however, that your Sharingan will push back the demon whenever it attempts to control Naruto in the future."

Sasuke's eyebrows moved up a bit. "Can you be absolutely sure of that?"

"No," Alivs replied with a small grimace. "However, there is little alternative at the moment. Once the fox has taken over I have no power to control it, so it is up to Naruto's own willpower or your Sharingan to push back its control."

"Okay then."

Then Sasuke suddenly disappeared from view.

"Sasuke?" Naruto called.

"Oh dear," Alvis whispered. "His mental link must have been cut off."

"What does that mean?"

"Either he woke up naturally or someone disturbed his chakra."

* * *

_Some minutes earlier…_

Haku watched as the two boys fell to the hard concrete. Neither stirred for some time.

The blond's features had returned to normal. Whatever had possessed the boy had receded. The other boy had said something about the Nine-Tailed Fox, but that couldn't possibly be true. There was no way that boy contained chakra from the legendary beast.

Haku gingerly pushed himself up from the railing. His left arm had most assuredly been broken. There were some other injuries as well. He could feel a sharp pain in his chest. Some of his ribs had likely cracked or worse. He could feel blood sliding down his head, but did not feel any of the telltale effects of a concussion.

Once more Haku looked at the two boys. They were clearly unconscious. Neither of them had moved for several minutes now.

He could kill them.

Haku considered the battle he had just been through. The dark-haired boy had proved a much better opponent than anticipated, though he would have fallen to the Demonic Ice Mirrors if not for the blond's interference.

The blond was a mystery that had plagued his mind for a week now. The attack that had freed Kakashi from the water prison, the sudden attack in the forest two days ago, the barrier technique, and the sudden burst of red chakra just a few moments ago followed by the very confusing discussion with the other boy.

The discussion he had held with the blond in the woods was not forgotten either. The boy strived to protect those close to him, as did the black-haired one according to his argument with the possessed blond.

'_We have our differences, but their goal is the same as mine.'_

Something spiked on the edge of his senses and Haku moved as quickly as he could.

* * *

"My future is death? You're wrong again, Kakashi."

Kakashi stared at the two in front of him.

Haku had appeared at the last moment to block the attack. Kakashi was sure the boy had meant to block it entirely, but he'd only been able to reach his arm out to protect his master. The result was Kakashi's attack being diverted to his right, slicing straight through the boy's arm and his master's.

Haku lay on the ground, not even attempting to cradle his lost appendage. The jounin quickly noticed that his left arm had been broken before jumping back to avoid Zabuza's counterattack. The ninja dogs had disappeared once Haku appeared. The boy had managed to fire senbon at them before jumping in front of the lightning blade.

Kakashi landed and took in his opponent's appearance. Zabuza had hardly noticed his missing left arm. He hefted his massive sword with his right arm so that it rested on his shoulder as if it weighed nothing.

"Good job, Haku," the man said.

"Z-zabuza-sama…" the boy could barely speak through his pain.

"What happened to Naruto and Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

Zabuza laughed. "It should be obvious, right? Even with two of them, they proved no match for-"

"They defeated me outright."

Both men stared at the boy. "The blond unleashed a massive chakra that easily overpowered me," he explained. "He and the other boy argued about whether or not they should kill me and then they both fell unconscious."

"Did you take them out?" Zabuza asked.

"I jumped to protect you before I could," Haku half-lied.

"Very well, I'll just have to finish them after I take out Kakash- urk!"

The jounin's foot planted itself into Zabuza's stomach, knocking the assassin back. _'What was that attack?'_

"It's time to stop playing around, Zabuza." Kakashi seemed deathly serious now.

He moved behind the missing nin, poised with two kunai set to pierce the back of his head. Zabuza barely moved in time and the knives lodged into his right arm, rendering it just as useless as his detached left.

"Your right arm is useless now," Kakashi stated. "You couldn't form a hand seal even if you wanted to." Kakashi palmed another kunai from his pouch. "Like I said, playtime is over."

"Actually I think it's about time you all stopped playing around."

Three heads turned to the edge of the bridge where a small man with wild hair and small circular glasses stood with a group of thugs that likely numbered over a hundred.

"Gatou."

* * *

Sasuke gasped for air as his eyes shot open.

He could feel the cold concrete of the bridge beneath him, meaning he had returned from wherever he had been before.

'_Was all that real?'_ he wondered. One glance at Naruto's unconscious body, no longer transformed by the kyuubi's influence, answered his question.

Sasuke noticed the Monado lying a few feet away from its owner. He recalled Alvis's words about being the sword's spirit. If the spirit of the sword resided in Naruto's mind, did that mean no one else was capable of using it?

Slowly, Sasuke reached down and grabbed the blade.

He looked up when he sensed a great number of malicious presences toward where Kakashi and Zabuza had been. He glanced down at the blade in his hand. He'd been planning to leave the blade with Naruto, but something was up and he was low on chakra. Even if the blade didn't activate, the large metal weapon would be good as a bludgeoning tool if nothing else.

"The Devil of the Hidden Mist!" Gatou jeered as he took in the man's missing left and broken right arms. "If you ask me, you're just a cute little devil baby!"

"We can easily kill you now!" the thugs roared behind him.

"Kakashi… I'm sorry." The jounin looked up at the blood-covered missing nin. "This fight is over. I have no reason to go after Tazuna and no reason to fight you."

"Ah… you're right."

Gatou moved his attention to the boy still lying on the ground nearby. "And this one here!" he shouted in glee. "I owe this one for breaking my arm!" His foot reared back to kick the defenseless Haku.

"GATOU!"

Every person within earshot froze as an image of a devil formed behind Zabuza. None of the thugs could react in time as the handicapped assassin kicked Gatou with enough force to send him flying into the crowd of his own thugs.

"Zabuza-sama…"

"Haku… Thank you for staying with me all these years. You were more than just a tool. Never let anyone tell you differently."

"Zabuza…sama…"

"Kakashi, I don't want you interfering with this. Gatou is mine."

He moved to argue, but Kakashi realized that nothing more than death awaited Zabuza even if he did assist. "Sure."

"I will take that foul man to hell with me," Zabuza promised. "Live your life so that you do not go there, Haku."

The boy's eyes widened as Zabuza ran forward. Caught by surprise, the first thug he met gave no resistance. Zabuza grabbed the man's kama in his mouth and sliced through his chest with the hooked weapon.

In this fashion Zabuza moved through the sea of attackers. What seemed like dozens of weapons pierced his back as he rushed through them, but he ignored every one. They would not stop him from taking Gatou's life.

Finally he came upon the man, kneeling and heaving in pain from the heavy kick he had received. He quickly looked up at the approaching assassin. "Zabuza, wai-"

"You're not worth my breath."

Zabuza sliced through the man's throat and the crime lord fell to the ground a moment later, a massive pool of his own blood surrounding him.

Zabuza fell a second later, the wounds on his back finally catching up to him.

Kakashi did not look away as Sasuke landed next to him.

"How is Naruto?" he asked simply.

"Unconscious but still alive," the boy replied. "The fox tried to take him over."

Kakashi's eyes widened ever so slightly, but he relaxed a moment later. "Fill me in later," he said. "We have some more to deal with here."

"Zabuza-sama…"

Sasuke looked at Haku, lying there with a missing arm and covered in blood.

"Zabuza-sama…"

He repeated the man's name over and over, as if it were the one thing that grounded him to reality.

"Zabuza-sama!"

The boy's voice grew louder as he somehow pushed himself up from the ground. His remaining arm was still broken, but the shock of watching his mentor die was probably numbing his senses.

Before they could react, Kakashi and Sasuke noticed Haku reappear by Zabuza's discarded blade. Both of them moved to stop him, but their eyes shot open as the boy lifted the massive sword with his injured arm.

"ZABUZA-SAMAAAA!"

Haku disappeared and the sounds of terror and pain drew their attention to the crowd one more. To their great surprise, Haku was obliterating the entire faction of Gatou's hired thugs.

'_Impossible!'_ Kakashi thought. _'That boy's arm was unusable!'_

In short time, all of the thugs had been killed and Haku immediately turned his focus to the two Leaf shinobi.

"You! You took Zabuza-sama's arms!" Haku yelled.

He rushed forward, but Sasuke met him halfway.

And sliced through the massive blade with the blue energy from the Monado.

Kakashi's mouth hung open as he watched Haku fall to the ground. His hand still clutched the bottom half of Zabuza's blade. The other half lay some distance away.

Energy crackled around Sasuke's arm in a way that Kakashi had never seen when Naruto used the Monado. In fact, Kakashi quickly reminded himself that Naruto was supposed to be the only one capable of using the Monado, but he'd just seen Sasuke activate it.

Sasuke suddenly dropped the weapon to the ground and pulled his hand away as if the handle had been scorching hot. The boy's hand was twitching and some remnants of the energy coursed through his arm even as the blade deactivated.

"I activated the Monado…" he whispered.

This would be a long debriefing session with the Hokage.

* * *

Things were fairly normal around Tazuna's home after that. Kakashi and Sasuke needed to rest in order for their wounds to heal. Pretty much all of Naruto's injuries had healed through the fox's power. Sakura helped Tsunami around the house while Naruto took on guard duty with Tazuna on the bridge, not that anyone ever showed up to attack him after Gatou's death.

Inari and Sakura had arrived to the bridge with the entire village in tow only to find Naruto unconscious and the signs of a rigorous battle. They feared the worst until the boy woke up at Sakura's prodding.

Said prodding involved shaking the boy back and forth and yelling at him with tears in her eyes, but it accomplished the intended result.

The only strange part about life after the bridge attack was the remaining assassin. Haku had been restrained and held in a small building not far from Tazuna's property. They checked up on him every few hours, bringing him food and water. The boy never spoke and his eyes seemed perpetually downcast.

The only time they'd seen him move since the attack was when they tried to take the broken sword away from him. He had thrashed about in his restraints, most likely injuring his arm further, until they agreed to leave the sword propped against the bed he was forced to lie in.

Since then, the boy had said nothing and never moved aside from partaking of the food and water they brought. He had quite an appetite, which removed any concerns that Kakashi had fostered about the boy being suicidal, at least for now.

Still, even with their detainee, things were much happier around the home now. Inari no longer moaned about his deceased father and Tsunami had no need to complain since she now had two helpers in the house. All of Tazuna's workers had returned to the bridge as well since Gatou was no longer a threat.

The dawn of Team 7's final day in the Land of Waves was a strange one. Naruto had been seen rushing over the entire house, trying to find his things to pack up, despite Kakashi's order to pack the night before. Thus their departure had been delayed by several hours.

Naruto and Inari cried as they said good-bye to each other. Sakura was chatting with Tsunami about some recipes and Sasuke seemed to be listening to some stories from the bridge workers.

Kakashi looked at the boy next to him warily. _'I'm not so sure it's a good idea to take him back to the village with us,'_ he mused, _'but I suppose it was Zabuza's final wish.'_

* * *

_Flashback_

"_It looks like it's over, Kakashi…"_

"_Yeah…"_

_He could tell that Zabuza was barely clinging to life._

"_Kakashi, I have a request. I want to see his face before I go."_

_The jounin slid his headband over his Sharingan and nodded his head. "Sure."_

_Snow began to fall around them as Kakashi carried Zabuza to where Haku lay unconscious._

"_Haku…" the man whispered. "Are you crying?"_

_Kakashi set him down and backed away to give him some privacy to say his final farewell._

"_Haku…" he whispered once more. "You have always been at my side. I want to be by your side now. I want to stay with you now."_

_Tears streamed from the hardened killer's eyes as he looked at the boy he loved like a son. "If I could, I'd like to stay with you."_

_A snowflake drifted slowly until it landed in the corner of Haku's eye. The flake melted and slid down the boy's face like a teardrop._

"_Kakashi," Zabuza said, loud enough for the jounin to hear. "I want you to take Haku to your village." The man began to protest, but Zabuza cut in. "Nothing awaits him but death otherwise. At least your village may protect him."_

_Kakashi relaxed and nodded after a moment._

"_I asked him to live on …so that he would not go to hell… where I will be." His words were fading fast. "Please… help him… live…"_

_Life faded from Zabuza's eyes at last._

"_I'll help him as much as I can," Kakashi whispered. "And who knows? Maybe he will join you in heaven some day."_

* * *

_End Chapter 8_

_Wow that's a lot of words!_

_Thanks for sticking around through all of this! This chapter ended up way longer than I was expecting. I have a couple points I want to explain quickly, but I'd be glad to answer any questions as well._

_First: The Monado can channel the Nine Tails' chakra the same way it handles any chakra. As of now, it doesn't really change anything other than possibly being stronger and changing the energy to red._

_Second: Sasuke has seen a different side of Naruto so he understands that protecting others is important. This will come into play later (in somewhat obvious ways)._

_Third: I kinda pulled some bullshit with the mindscape scene. Madara could control the Kyuubi and Sasuke did appear in Naruto's subconscious in Shippuden, but I doubt he'd be able to do that this early on. This was a freak accident that won't happen again (not for a long time, anyway)._

_Fourth, and probably most important: Sasuke can use the Monado. This is one of the things I've had planned for a while now. It'll be a somewhat major plot point._

_Fifth, last and also probably important: Haku is alive! He's short an arm and his other is badly damaged, but he's coming back to the village with Team 7. He'll reappear at some point._

_Raikiri – Lightning Blade_

_Kama – a hooked blade typically meant for reaping crops; occasionally seen as a weapon in the manga_


End file.
